


Promises

by violentlymastrubatin



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Auschwitz, Holocaust, M/M, No Smut, Prisoner!Harry, Solider!Louis, WW2, holocaust AU, larry - Freeform, smut free here bitches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2017-12-31 15:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1033530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violentlymastrubatin/pseuds/violentlymastrubatin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis was a German soldier at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, in 1940. He was in charge of guarding a group of Jews, one of them never leaving his mind. Harry Styles. He couldn’t let him get killed by the cruel people that run this camp. He was determined to save Harry Styles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was midnight.

Louis Tomlinson stood at his assigned bunk, holding a gun to his side, watching a room full of Jews sleep. He stared at them, his eyelids getting heavy. He let his head fall against his shoulder and his eyes fluttered shut only to be prodded roughly in the stomach with a rifle, immediately back awake. He looked up to see the head soldier of his group staring down at him, anger in his eyes.

“You’re being paid to watch the prisoners, not to sleep Tomlinson.” He shouted, not caring at all that people were trying to sleep.

He nodded and stood back upright, but he wasn’t done scolding him yet. “You have to keep an eye on them, especially that one, over there.” He said, pointing towards a young curly haired boy sleeping on the bottom bunk of the many sitting in the room. He knew his name, Harry Styles. His father had gotten killed the day before, his mother and sister killed when they first arrived at Auschwitz. He always thought there was something different about this boy, he was so cautious about everything he did. So careful to do everything right, so he wouldn’t get beaten.

The man shook his head and let his rifle drop to his side. “He’s getting weaker; he won’t be around for long.” He said and Louis kept his eyes on the skinny boy, shivering under the thin blanket on his bunk. He’d noticed too, Harry didn’t have much more time until he was shot.

Louis nodded and the man walked away, but he continued watching Harry as he slept. He’d always paid more attention to him, he was different. He never tried to escape, to rebel against the soldiers, always did everything he was supposed to. He wished he was able to give him more bread and soup at meal times, rather than the scarce amount the prisoners received. He wished he could give him another blanket when he saw him shivering in his bunk, probably freezing. It was heartbreaking to watch him sleep, he rolled restlessly back and forth whimpering quietly, no doubt having nightmares about being killed, much like the rest of the people here experienced. He didn't know why, but he liked this skinny boy.

He hated being a German soldier, a Nazi. It sickened him. It wasn’t his choice to be here, his father was a Nazi too and forced him to follow suit. There were a lot of other things he’d rather be doing as a 21 year old. He was lucky he wasn’t one of the prisoners, one of them having to work day and night and fed so little. But it was almost just as terrible watching innocent people go through it.

The rest of the night passed quickly, Louis’ mind racing with thoughts about escaping this place. He hated seeing people get shot for no reason, just because of what they believed in. Watching the people working until they couldn’t stand anymore, they’d collapse and then get shot for not working. It was hard to survive. By the time he saw the sun shining through the dusty window of the bunk he had a plan formulated in his head. He was going to save Harry Styles.

 

Louis led them to the kitchen, watching them eat the small pieces of bread with little bowls of soup, which was practically just hot water. He mainly just watched Harry though, how his eyes darted around the room as he picked at his small portion of bread. His eyes darted in his direction and he quickly looked away, scared of getting beaten for making eye contact with a Nazi, which happened all too often. He couldn’t stand this anymore, watching Harry being so scared of everything. He sat alone at the table, not talking to anyone. In Auschwitz, it was hard to trust anyone expect your family. But in Harry’s case, there was no family. 

 

 

Harry was exhausted; he hadn’t gotten any decent sleep the night before. His nights were filled with nightmares, getting killed and beaten. Reliving his parent’s and sister’s deaths. It was horrible; he needed to get out of this place. It was hell, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He couldn’t stand watching people slowly disappear, getting shot or gassed, only to be replaced with more from the ghettos. He was thankful he still remained, but he knew his time was limited. He could barely lift the heavy rocks onto the trunk anymore, and breaks weren’t an option. You got shot if you sat.

He almost looked forward to the day he got killed, anywhere would be better than this place. This was no place for someone who was only 18, he had his whole life ahead of him. But all of it was thrown away when they were deported just because they were Jewish.

He silently picked at his bread; his father had showed him how to eat it slowly instead of eating it all at once. He missed his father, he was alone now. He didn’t want to make any more friends or get attached to them, they could be gone the next day. So he sat alone at the table sipping at his soup, looking around at all the other people.

He looked over to the door and caught a pair of piercing blue eyes, a Nazi. He quickly turned back to his soup, his heart racing. He didn’t want to die, not today. He let out the breath he was holding once he realized the soldier wasn’t going to shoot him. He could feel the young man’s eyes on him, he hoped he wasn’t planning to beat him or rape him later. Or worse, shoot him.

They were told to get to work, just like every other day, and he stood up from the bench to walk out to the rock pile where he was lifting the rocks into the truck along with a few other men and women. His hands were covered in blisters, making it even worse to pick up the heavy rocks. He lifted a rock and threw it onto the truck, feeling he was being watched. He turned to see the same soldier he’d made eye contact staring at him again. He looked away quickly again, knowing he’d get beaten now. It was bad to look a Nazi in the eye once, twice was horrible. Silent tears started streaming down his face as he threw another rock on the truck. He quickly wiped them away. There was no crying in Auschwitz. 

He reached down and picked up another rock, lifting it onto the truck. He silently hoped he would kill him, he didn't know how much longer he could do this. He reached for another rock, but then his arms went weak. He dropped it and fell to his knees, he was too weak to even stand. His heart was racing as he saw a soldier walking towards him, pointing his rifle. This was it, he was going to get killed, He closed his eyes, waiting for it all to be over. He wrapped his arms around himself and braced himself for it. But then he heard it. A voice calling out.

"No! You can't!" The voice yelled, and he opened his eyes. There was a pair of friendly blue eyes staring down at him, shielding him with his body. The solider behind him put down his gun with groan, going back to his assigned post. 

This strange, blue eyed solider, had saved him.


	2. Chapter 2

Louis stood in front of the small boy curled up on the ground, staring into the yellow eyes of his fellow soldier, begging him not to shoot. The man let his rifle fall to his side and he let out the breath he was holding. He stood up and turned to look at Harry, who was curled in a ball behind him looking up at him. He stared back down into his green eyes, missing the hope and happiness that used to be there when he arrived. He’d been watching Harry since he arrived a few months ago; he couldn’t just stand by and watch him get shot. If you saw a bird fall out of its nest, would you leave it there to die?

He went back to his assigned spot, watching the other prisoners and avoiding looking to Harry. He looked around behind him nervously, hoping the leader of his group didn’t see what he just did. He’d surely get hanged for defending a Jew. He hated this place; it was literally hell on earth.

He turned back around to see Harry still sitting on the ground in a ball, staring at him. He stared back for awhile, getting lost for a second before the soldier next to him prodded him in the side with his rifle. Harry looked away too and slowly got up, and kept picking up rocks and heaving them onto the truck. He walked over to the soldier that almost shot Harry, and begged him not to tell anyone. He agreed and Louis walked back to his post.

He watched Harry continue to lift rocks on the truck, their eyes met every once and awhile. This needed to stop, he couldn’t get attached to this prisoner. It wasn’t long before he was shot or sent to a different camp. Harry looked so weak, he was literally just bones covered by skin. He got sick to his stomach, he was one of the people that allowed this to happen to innocent people.

A woman near Harry that had been chatting with him quietly as they worked dropped the rock she was holding and knelt down to pick it up. She tried to lift it back up, but she too was too weak. She looked up to Harry and he tried to help her up, but the Nazi next to him yelled for him to let her get up by herself. She tried once again to get up, and failed. The man raised his rifle and aimed, before shooting her in the chest. He closed his eyes, he couldn’t watch anymore. He’d been here for almost three years now, and he still couldn’t stand to watch someone get killed.

He’d only really ever killed two people that he could remember. Only because he was forced to, two boys who had snuck extra bread from the kitchen to bring back to their bunks. He’d shot them in the middle of the forest. He shivered remembering how cold the day had been, how depressing. He went to his bunk that night and cried himself to sleep, wondering how he’d ended up here.

Harry kept working after the woman’s body was dragged away, it was obvious he was crying. Louis’ heart broke silently, he should’ve stopped the soldier from shooting her. If he did he would’ve been shot. Before long the sun was setting over the trees, it was such a pretty sight in such a horrid place. Harry walked slowly back to his bunk, and Louis again felt that same feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he needed to help Harry. He pushed the thoughts from his head, they weren’t right. He was a German, Harry a Jew. He couldn’t fall for Harry.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry walked back to his bunk, his muscles sore and tired and the blue eyed soldier running through his head. Why had he saved him like that? He was like a saint in the middle of hell. He didn’t even know his name, they were required to just call everyone that wasn’t a fellow Jew, ‘sir’. The woman that had been loading rocks next to him said that the man kept staring at him, she was a really nice lady. She was older though, she wasn’t as strong. So they killed her. Just when he thought he’d found a friend.

He walked into the bunk he shared with about 50 other men, and went to his bunk in the corner of the room, laying on the straw. He had a lower bunk, which meant he got frequent vermin visits. He lay down and pulled the thin, itchy cotton blanket over himself, laying his head on his balled up jacket. The blue eyed soldier walked by him and into the corner, where he usually watched over everyone. He was one of the nicer Nazis, he actually smiled and had emotions unlike most of the people here. He closed his eyes and felt the man staring at him, but ignored it.

In the back of his head, he liked to think that the man liked him. He missed the feeling of being loved, cared for, needed. He was crazy for thinking a German would like him, a Jew. He put his face in his jacket, missing his house with his family. He couldn’t sleep, images of the woman getting shot ran through his mind.

He tried to think of home. It always made him feel better. He remembered when he couldn’t sleep, his father would come into his room and sing one of the Jewish songs of freedom to him before he fell asleep. When they first arrived in the ghetto, his father still sang the songs of freedom, despite their situation which was quite opposite of freedom. But after they got deported to the concentration camp, his father stopped singing. He’d lost hope, they all had.

He had tears in his eyes now, he missed his family so much. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the small, wrinkled picture out of his pocket and looked at it. His father’s smiling face, dimples and all. A mirror of himself. His mother, her long black hair and perfect skin. His sister next to her, closely resembling his mom. He wished he could’ve done something to save them, but he couldn’t have, he knew that. But he couldn’t help but think he could’ve saved them.

He pulled out the small gold band his father had given him on his bar mitzvah. On the inside, was his favorite Jewish Proverb. ‘As he thinks in his heart, so he is.’. He’d managed to get it past every inspection, along with the picture. He couldn’t lose it, it was the only thing along with the picture, that he had left of home.

He stashed the picture and ring back into his pocket, remembering the guard was watching him. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine his father’s voice singing to him. He had a wonderful voice, always perfectly hitting each note. He sometimes wondered if he could sing, but he had no reason to sing.

He eventually fell asleep, but of course with sleep came the nightmares. Surprisingly, instead came a dream. He was loading rocks, and the blue eyed soldier came over to him and started helping him, and once they were done and sun was setting he invited him to his bunk. He escorted him to the nicer soldier’s quarters and they drank wine, which he’d only ever had once in his life. He’d eaten chocolate too, which he’d eaten too quickly. They chatted happily until the sun came up, and for once he didn’t feel lonely. The dream was so vivid. 

He woke up to see a bunch of soldiers around him, laughing hysterically and holding bottles of alcohol. One of them raised his hand and slapped him across the face, and tears stung his eyes as he held back tears.

“Look at the pig, he was smiling in his sleep! Smiling.. I think he needs to work in the mines tomorrow.” The one that slapped him said. They kept laughing and walked out, and Harry put his face back into his jacket and cried. What did he do to deserve this? He lifted his head and saw the friendly soldier still standing in the corner, staring at him. At least he hadn’t been one who was laughing at him.

He imagined his father singing again, reminding him of the sweet times when they’d prepare for the Sabbath. Better times, times of happiness. If that only existed here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis watched as his fellow soldiers came in and slapped Harry, laughing at him for smiling in his sleep. The poor boy had actually been the least bit happy for once in this place, and they ruined it. He watched him cry himself to sleep, humming a song he’d never heard. He watched him shivering in the cool night air, just like he always did. He left his post and walked to the closet at the end of the bunk. He unlocked it with his key and pulled out a spare blanket. He walked back to the corner Harry was in and draped it over him, and he stopped shivering. His heart swelled with affection for him, but he reminded himself that he was a Nazi. He walked back to the corner and watched Harry sleep peacefully. For once in the past three years he’d been here, he didn’t feel like the monster he was.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry didn't get any more sleep than he usually did that night.

He had fallen asleep quickly after the man came in and slapped him, that he was used to. But right before he'd fallen into unconsciousness, he felt another blanket drape over his shoulders and heard a soldier's boots thudding against the floor going back to the corner. It was the same one that saved him. He didn't understand at all, but the blanket really did help make him warmer. The wooden bunks seemed just a little less hard that night.

He was woken up by someone crying outside. He sat up and looked out of the dusty window next to his bed, seeing the sun peeking over the horizon. He saw little children walking by the hut, whimpering and crying for their mothers. His heart broke in his chest, knowing where they were headed. They clutched their dolls and teddy bears, and I heard the SS men spurring them on to walk faster, telling them they'd see their mothers sooner if they did. He lay back down on the rotten straw of his bunk when they'd walked out of view, silently crying himself to sleep. He'd woken up an hour later, and sickening fumes from the crematorium filled the hut.

He didn't even have any time to sleep after that, soon the friendly soldier and the others in the bunker were yelling at them to wake up. He sat up and pushed the warm blankets off of himself to feel the brisk morning air hit his skin.

He looked down at himself, at his dirty jacket and his worn out pants with holes in the knees. He looked at his jacket again, at the yellow star stitched to the right sleeve, labeling him a Jew. He wondered what would happen if he just ripped it off, wouldn't he be treated the same as everyone else in the world then?

He got up and groaned, his muscles sore from working yesterday. He pulled the small picture of his family and his ring out of his pocket and stuck them under a patch of straw. He followed his fellow bunk mates out of the hut, but the guard didn't lead them to the usual place where they worked loading rocks. This was the main part of Auschwitz, the center of the camp. It was where we went for roll call, but that was only in the evening. This was his worst nightmare, an inspection.

About once a month, the Nazi's had a 'doctor' come out, but Harry was pretty sure they had absolutely no idea what they were talking about and knew they were just the same people that wanted to rid the world of Jews.

They lined up, women separated from men, and stood in lines. His heart started racing, he hated these things. They made them run in circles forever, naked. And whoever couldn't keep running got pulled aside and shot. If you made it past the running, the doctors would quickly examine you. If you were healthy, you got to keep working. If not, you were shot.

They were told to remove all of their clothes, he was suddenly glad he left his precious photo and ring behind. He took off his coat, and then the rest of his meager clothing and added it to the pile of the other's clothing.

 

Then, with the rest of the prisoners, he ran. He was relatively athletic, when he used to go to school he'd been in sports. But now just running was hard, especially with lack of food and sleep. They ran for what seemed like hours, circles and circles through the mud. A few older women and men in front of him got pulled out of the line, and prayed silently for them. He didn't understand at all. He ran around and around until one of the guards blew a whistle telling them to stop. He'd made it, at least for now.

 

Louis stood next to one of his few friends here, Zayn. Zayn was in the same situation he was, he was forced to be here. He wasn't as easy going with the prisoners as Louis was though, he thought Jews were dirty and disgusting, the cause of Germany's depression. He hated them to say the least.

He was standing next to him in center camp, watching the naked prisoners running around the muddy field. Zayn was laughing, holding his bottle of alcohol, and taking large swigs of it every once and awhile. He stood next to him, rifle resting at his side, his face showing no emotion. He wasn't listening to Zayn's banter about how fat and ugly most of the Jews were, he was thinking that this was his fault. It was because of people like him and families like his that these people were, being humiliated.

He still found himself watching Harry. He made himself look away, if Zayn saw him staring he'd ask questions. Not that he was sober enough to even notice. He dropped his gun so it fell to the ground and crossed his arms with a loud sigh, really getting annoyed with Zayn's drunken rant about Jewish people.

"Look at them! What pigs, they can't even run!" He slurred and spilled alcohol on himself laughing. Anger burned inside of me and he told Zayn to shut up, but he just wandered off to talk to one of the doctors, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.

It took him awhile to find Harry in the slowly thinning crowd of people, but eventually he saw the mop of matted curly hair, looking past it to see the bright green eyes standing out from the dreary landscape. Despite being in such a horrible place, he still looked quite well. He heard the whistle blow and the Jews rushed to get into lines. He saw the needle being passed, each of them pricking their fingers secretly. They didn't know that all the guards knew they did that, it gave them another reason to make fun of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, Harry knew, he had to just past the health inspection. They were getting back into lines in front of the small tables where the doctors sat, after they'd gotten dressed again. Just as always, a small needle was being passed up and down the lines. He remembered his first inspection when he came here, and he saw people pricking their fingers with the needles and rubbing the blood from their fingers on their faces. A woman later explained to him that it was to make them look less pale, look more alive. Healthier.

The needle came to him and he pricked his finger secretly, the soldiers couldn't seem him doing it. He rubbed the blood on his cheeks to make them look rosy. He still had a little hope burning inside of him, that he would make it out of this place alive.

His turn came to get inspected and he saw the blue eyed soldier staring at him. He blushed deeply, adding to the redness of his cheeks. He was used to people staring and laughing at him. But it was when he saw that particular soldier staring at him, he felt ashamed.

Harry hadn't even noticed that the doctor had already started looking him over, and he looked into his eyes for any clue of what he was thinking. His heart was beating out of his chest, he didn't want to die yet. But then he thought, what did he have to live for? His family was gone, he was sure his house was completely torn apart. He had nothing left if this hell ever came to an end.

The doctor shook his head and pointed his thumb over his shoulder, towards the place where they kept the unhealthy people to get shot. Surprisingly, he felt relief come over him when two soldiers starting pushing him towards a scared looking group of people, who also had been proved unfit to work. He stood amongst them, not saying anything. Then he got scared again. He'd have to look down the barrel of a gun, and get shot. What if they didn't shoot him right and he was still alive? What if he suffered? Did it hurt to die? He whimpered worriedly and looked at the people behind him, moving closer to them. A women, one who reminded him much of his mother, hugged him tightly. He told himself not to cry, he might earn an extra few seconds of his life. He hugged the woman back and told her it was going to be alright, even though he knew it wasn't.

He squeezed his eyes shut and felt more people crowding around him, it wasn't too long before they were led in the forest. He hoped, if anyone, the blue eyed soldier would kill him. It would be the best way to die, staring into his pretty eyes. He didn't even stop himself from thinking these things, what was the point of not? He would be gone in a matter of minutes.

He kept his eyes shut, clinging to the woman he barely knew. Suddenly, an arm was pulling him out of the crowd and his eyes shot open, everyone else had gone back to work. His eyes met the familiar blue ones and he pulled Harry to his overseer, alongside the doctor. "We need a new doctor, this boy here is perfectly healthy, he can still work!" He heard the man yell at his overseer, still holding tightly onto his arm. He tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight. Everyone in the crowd behind him was staring at him, speechless.

The head soldier looked him over and nodded, pointing to the truck full of rocks. "So he is. Good work Louis. Back to work, you swine!" The soldier barked at him and he pulled back from the soldier, running to the truck. The name was ringing through his head, Louis. So that was this mysterious man's name. He saw the other people that had been in the crowd with him being released, the doctor being yelled at and sent back to his quarters. The woman who'd been hugging me came over, smiling. Smiling was rare here, she probably had family to live for.

He talked to the woman as he worked, telling her about the man named Louis. He told her that he thought the man fancied him, but she turned stern and told him to stop thinking that. It was wrong for him to be thinking that about a Nazi, and that he shouldn't let anyone else hear about Louis. He nodded sadly and they worked the rest of the day, not another word uttered between them.

 

He walked silently back to his bunk at sunset after the whistle. He picked at the bread left on his bunk, since they hadn't had breakfast because of the inspection. He pulled the two blankets over him, smiling a little because Louis had given him that extra blanket. He pulled the picture and ring from under the straw and safely put the ring back in his coat pocket, and laid the picture on his lap as he ate. He stared at it for awhile until Louis came in to stand in his corner. He wanted to thank him, for not only saving his life once, but twice. There had to be something going through his head, a Nazi wouldn't just do this for a Jew. He fell asleep after he finished his bread, the picture safely in his pocket, warm with the blankets over him. For once, his nights weren't filled with nightmares, but with pleasant dreams of the man named Louis.

 

Louis watched Harry fall asleep once again, but he didn't stir or whimper in his sleep that night. He fell asleep with a smile on his face, and Louis couldn't help but smile himself. It was weird, he hadn't smiled in so long. It felt nice. He didn't regret at all saving Harry after inspection. He needed to talk to him, his affection for Harry was growing. He needed to confront him, get to know him. Gain his trust. Because the feelings he had for Harry weren't just those of a normal longing for friendship. It was feelings of love. And he was dying to know if the feelings were mutual. But a part of him was scared to know the answer.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry woke up when the soldiers started screaming and clapping their hands loudly to get up. He quickly got up and glanced out his window, the sun wasn't even up yet. He quickly took his beloved picture and ring out of his pocket if for some reason this was another inspection. He hid it in his blanket and got into the line that was filing out of the room.

The cool night air hit him as soon as he stepped out of the hut, and his thin clothing did nothing to warm him. Their line merged with the women's line, and he saw the woman that had been in the crowd at inspection the day before. He wasn't quite sure, but he was almost sure her name was Eva. He caught her eye and she smiled a little, but he didn't smile back. He was scared to death of what was happening.

They went to the middle of the camp, and were told to get into lines of 5. There were soldiers walking up and down the rows, counting and recounting. Finally they had the right amount, everyone was present. But then they started calling names, and then he got nervous. He heard Eva's name get called and she walked forward to join the small group of about 40 people separated from their lines.

He prayed his name wouldn't get called, he didn't know what was going to happen to those people.

His heart stopped when the solider called his name. He swallowed thickly and stepped forward from his line, everyone's eyes were on him. He joined the group and stood next to Eva, feeling safer next to her. She was so similar to his mother. She seemed to relax a little when he stood next to her too.

A few more names were called, the group at the front got slightly bigger. There were at least 60 people now. His heart was beating out of his chest, and he swore he heard Eva's heartbeat too. Finally, they stopped calling names and everyone else was dismissed to breakfast. Great, he'd have to wait until the evening to get his meal.

His stomach growled uncomfortably as the soldier who'd been calling names came to stand in front of them.

"Good morning Jews." He said, a smirk on his face. This couldn't be good. He stared at the man and noticed Louis was standing next to him, and their eyes met. Louis had tried to save him, twice now. Harry felt better, Louis probably wouldn't put him into danger. Or would he? He couldn't trust anyone, let alone a Nazi. He shook his head slightly, he needed to stop thinking that Louis liked him. He once again reminded himself, he was a Jew. Louis was German.

"You have all been chosen for a... Special assignment." The soldier said, sounding amused. He knew this man, it was Rudolf Hoess. The head of Auschwitz. He shivered as the man kept talking. "You are no longer required to do your assigned jobs. After today, instead of reporting to the head of your job every morning, you must now go into the forest to work. You begin tomorrow." He said and walked away. Eva shivered next to him, she probably knew what he meant. But Harry knew nothing. Louis told them to go to get to work. Eva walked next to him as they walked to the truck.

They began lifting rocks onto the truck, just like every other day before that.

"Eva, that man, Louis, has to want something to do with me. He keeps staring at me!" Harry told Eva as they worked. She just shook her head and glared at him.

"I told you, stop speaking of it!" She said in an angry whisper. "He's probably planning on killing you in your sleep or something." She said and glanced over at Louis, who was watching them.

Harry rolled his eyes and turned his back to Eva. He knew she was all too right. But he still liked to think that he fancied him. It was like drinking alcohol, it made all his worries go away when he thought about Louis actually feeling that way towards him. He was starved of feeling affection, of being loved.

The day went by relatively quickly, the roll call in the morning took up most of the day. Soon Louis blew the whistle and they started walking back. Him and Eva parted ways, he going towards the men's bunks and she towards the women's. He walked single file past the tall electric fence that bordered the camp. He looked over at it as he walked, it made him shiver. He knew he was never going to get out of here.

He got back to his bunk, where his blankets were still there. His bread was sitting on the blanket and he sat down and picked it up eagerly. His stomach had been complaining all day. He inspected the bread for a second before noticing the mold. He groaned disappointedly and laid down picking at the bread and eating the fresh parts. He finished it quickly, forgetting to eat it slowly like he usually did. He unwrapped the picture and ring and put them back into his pocket. He slipped off his jacket and scrunched it into a ball before laying his head on it. He pulled the blankets over him and stared at the bunk above him.

He couldn't stop thinking about Louis. It was hard not to look over at him in the corner. He didn't understand him at all, why he was always staring at him and why he saved him. There was something not right about it.

He couldn't fall asleep, there were too many things on his mind. He sat up and looked out of his dirty window and stared at the electric fence. He felt like an animal, trapped in a cage. They were treated like animals here, sleeping on straw and getting fed moldy food.

He noticed a dark figure walking, but he didn't see a gun by its side. Then, in the dim lights from the main part of camp, he saw the yellow star on his jacket. A Jew.

His eyes widened and he watched the man carefully walk towards the fence, looking around him. He could see his face in the lights, but he didn't recognize him. The next thing he knew the man was climbing up the fence, still looking around him to make sure no one was coming. Then he threw himself onto the electrical wire at the top, and Harry looked away. He laid back down and put his jacket over his head, wanting to cry.

He said a prayer for the man. He'd killed himself. He shivered and pulled the blankets back over himself. Suicide was strangely common here, he heard about it all too often. But he'd never witnessed it.

He'd thought about taking his own life more than once, he needed to get out of this place. But a little hope was still burning inside of him, that he would make it out alive.

He thought again about this 'assignment' he'd have to attend tomorrow. In the forest. They usually brought people into the forest to be shot, maybe this was some kind of trick. He shivered and tears spilled from his eyes. He was probably going to get killed tomorrow. Eva was right, Louis had been planning to kill him the whole time. Maybe that's why he'd saved him, so that he could shoot him himself.

 

The nightmares came back, and he could barely sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Louis watched Harry sleep, seeing him shiver like he did when he was having a nightmare. He knew that a man had commit suicide outside, he'd watched along with Harry. He'd deal with it in the morning, by then maybe someone else would've already found him.

He kept going over his plan in his head. He was assigned to watch the prisoners in the forest while they worked. He'd approach Harry after work at the right time, and would try his best to gain his trust. He would tell him that he'd try to protect him the best he could. But most importantly, he'd tell him that he loved him.

It took him awhile to realize it, but he actually did love Harry. He didn't care if Harry was a Jew, once the war was over it wouldn't matter. He just had to make sure Harry didn't get killed before Germany lost this war. He kept going over this plan, because he couldn't afford to mess up.

He kept watching Harry sleep, tossing and turning on the wooden bunks. Before he knew it, the sun was up and his overseer was yelling orders to wake the prisoners up. He started yelling and the Jews slowly woke up, getting up from their beds to walk out the door. Harry remained though. He was staring out the window at the corpse on the fence. He reached out and grabbed his shoulder, shaking it gently. Their eyes met and his breath caught in his throat, it was going to be hard to not say anything to him until the time for his plan came. He gestured towards the door and Harry nodded, fear in his eyes.

He waited until Harry went out the door before following him out. He walked to the edge of the forest until there were all 56 prisoners that were selected to work. He called out everyone's names, a hand rose each time. Everyone had came, thankfully. Otherwise he would've had to shoot someone. He put them into a line and stood in front of them, leading them into the dense forest. There were other soldiers standing around the line as they walked, so no one would flee.

They kept walking for about an hour through the forest until they reached a clearing in the trees. The pile of old shovels was sitting where they'd been placed the day before. He made sure the area was marked right and then turned to face the Jews.

He separated them into two lines, the stronger Jews and the weaker ones. Some of them were crying, others shaking with fear. They probably thought they were going to get shot, like people usually did when they were in the forest. He turned to face the two lines and picked Harry out of the weaker side, alongside an older woman.

"You are to take the shovels and dig a trench. It will be used to hold the corpses. It should take about two weeks, so you are to report here every morning until we are finished." He said and turned to the weaker side.

"You will be digging." He said before turning to the stronger side. "And you will be lifting the corpses into the trench." He said and gestured to the shovels. "Until the corpses get here, all of you will dig."

He walked to the edge of the clearing and the other soldiers stood all along the other edges. They couldn't afford to lose any prisoners, which meant that all the others would get beaten until the person was found.

He was extremely nervous, he was planning to confront Harry after the whistle blew. He didn't know if today was the best day to, the other soldiers might get suspicious of him talking to a Jew. He decided he'd do it tomorrow, tonight he could perfect his plan.

He watched as they all dug, some of them still crying. Harry was digging next to the woman he'd been standing by before, maybe he'd actually found someone to talk to.

The sun was starting to set soon after and Louis blew his whistle, signaling the end of the work day. They dropped their shovels and got back into a line as he led them back towards the camp. He glanced back every once and awhile, looking for Harry. Eventually he noticed him, and he was walking alone again.

He furrowed his eyebrows when he turned back around, wondering what happened to the woman. He turned back around looking for the dark haired girl, but she was nowhere to be seen.

 

Eventually they reached the edge of the forest and the trail that lead back to camp. He got his list of prisoners out and started calling off names, making sure everyone was back. He called out every name, and everyone seemed to be there. Except for the woman named Eva.

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Harry was shaking as he stood next to the prisoners that were crowded around him. He was alone and scared, because Louis was keeping them longer than he should have, counting them over and over.

He'd been shoveling with Eva, talking to her every now and then to keep his mind off of his aching muscles. He turned his back for a minute and when he turned back around and Eva was gone. She'd run, and hadn't been caught.

She'd talked a lot about leaving, going back to her home. He'd told her to stop talking about that, because if she fled, everyone would pay.

And now, they were going to. Louis told one of the soldiers to get Rudolf Hoess. This wasn't good at all.

Soon the familiar man came over to them, and he was exhausted at this point. He just wanted to get back to his uncomfortable bunk and eat his bread and go to sleep. It was all Eva's fault, she was so selfish.

Rudolf too, counted all of them multiple times, but always came up one short. He started screaming and shoving the soldiers around, asking them how they could be so stupid as to let a prisoner escape. No one moved a muscle or said a work, everyone was too scared.

Then he started yelling at them, asking them if they knew where Eva was. He froze when a soldier pulled Rudolf aside to whisper something in his ear. He backed away and Rudolf's face turned red. "Harry Styles! Come forward!" He yelled and looked around the crowd.

Harry whimpered quietly and started slowly walking forward, afraid of getting beaten. "Where is she?" He asked, grabbing Harry's jacket in his fist and picking him up.

Harry shook his head and closed his eyes. "I d-don't know." He stuttered. Rudolf laughed and threw him down. "Well someone better tell me before I get really mad and send you all to the gas chambers!" He yelled, kicking Harry in the stomach. He curled in on himself and started to cry, keeping his eyes closed. He knew he should tell, but he didn't want Eva to get killed. But if he didn't, everyone else would get killed. He opened his eyes and stood up slowly, holding his stomach.

"She went home. To Quedlinburg." He said quietly, looking down at his feet. The man laughed and pushed him back into the crowd. "Good Jew, you've saved yourself this time. But just because you're all idiots for letting this happen, none of you get bread or soup tonight!" He yelled and quickly walked away.

Louis dismissed them and they all slowly and cautiously made their way back to their bunks. He got to his bunk and sat down, staring at the rotting straw. He'd basically killed Eva. He put his face in his hands and stared sobbing, his poor friend. He didn't know if he was sadder, now that she was going to get hunted and killed, or mad that she left him behind and put them all in danger.

He lifted his face from his hands, he hated himself more than ever now. He did that to his friend, she'd trusted him. He dug in his pocket for the picture and laid down on his bunk, staring at the picture. He wondered what it would be like if they were still here with them, his family.

Even if Eva would've taken him with him, where would he go? He had nothing. Nothing to live for.

So why was he still here? Wasting away in some concentration camp where he would be worked to death.

Then it came to him, he didn't have to be here. He looked out the window, it was starting to rain. He could get out of here. All he would have to do, while they were walking to the forest, was stop and let himself sink into the mud from the rain. The guards would do the rest.

He nodded to himself, as if the plan was final. He was going to let himself get killed.

He pulled the blankets over himself and put his picture back in his pocket, he would be with them soon enough. He remembered Louis, standing in the corner. Maybe he would be the one to shoot him after he sunk into the mud. Louis wasn't a reason to live, Eva was right. He just wanted to kill him. Dying would make Louis happy, especially if he did it himself.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but he couldn't knowing it was the last time he ever would. He pushed the blankets off of himself and sat up, staring at it. Tall and intimidating, a soft hum coming from it.

The electric fence. All he had to do was sneak out of the hut and throw himself into it, just like the man the night before had. He'd be free from this place, and be safe. He made sure he had the picture and his ring, he wanted to die with them. He wasn't even scared of dying anymore, if it hurt or any nonsense like that. Anything would be better than this.

He peeked over at Louis in the corner, who seemed to be dozing off like he usually did. He got up from his bunk and silently walked to the door past all the sleeping men, hearing rain patter against the roof. He silently slipped out of the door and closed it behind him, praying that Louis didn't hear him. He started walking through the mud, pushing his wet curls out of his face as they clung to his forehead.

 

He walked to the fence and stared up at it, once again hearing the soft hum. He pulled his ring out of his pocket and slipped it on his finger. He took the picture out too and the rain pattered against it as he stared down at it. He had tears streaming down his face now, mixing with the rain on his face. He pressed his lips to the picture as a sob escaped his lips. This is what everything had come to. This was it.

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Louis was woken up by a door closing, and he knew he was screwed. Another prisoner trying to escape? He'd fallen asleep thinking about his plan again. He looked over at Harry's bunk, it was empty. His heart started beating rapidly in his chest, he couldn't be gone. He hadn't had a chance to tell him anything yet.

He looked around the hut, everyone seemed to be safely asleep in their bunks. So he slipped out of the door. It was raining and his hair kept sticking to his face. He looked around in the dim light from the middle of camp and saw a dark figure standing by the large fence that bordered the camp. He walked over to the dark figure and saw it was holding something, and was shaking. He walked closer and put his hand on his shoulder. "Harry?" He asked, loud enough so he could hear it over the rain. Harry looked back at him and their eyes met. Harry had tears filling his eyes, and he dropped what seemed to be a picture. He reached down to pick it up for him and when he leaned back up, Harry was starting to scale the fence.

 

"No!" He yelled over the rain and ran over to the fence, reaching up for Harry. Harry looked down at him, the moonlight shining off of his wet face. He turned back around and locked his hands on the side of the fence, making sure his feet were planted. He bent his knees and let go of the fence, sending himself flying towards the top.

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Harry could barely believe his eyes when Louis came up behind him. He was probably going to turn him and he would get shot. He wanted to die on his own accord. He dropped his picture and quickly scrambled up the fence, praying Louis wouldn't catch him. He started sobbing once he reached the top, this was it. He braced himself and jumped, only to feel himself being pulled back down to earth by his jacket.


	5. Chapter 5

Louis had saved Harry, just in the nick of time.

As the rain continued pouring out of the sky, Louis reached up and grabbed a handful of Harry’s coat, pulling him back down as he flew through the air towards the fence. He came hurdling back to the ground and he caught Harry in his arms. He wasn’t as heavy as he expected, he was just barely skin and bones after all.

The second Louis pulled Harry to his chest he tried to squirm away, tears flowing down his cheeks. Or maybe it was the rain. Either way Louis felt compelled to help him. He held him tighter and shushed him. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” He kept mumbling to Harry as he walked through the rain. Harry eventually gave up squirming and lay limp in his arms, still crying.

Louis walked slowly through the mud towards his small apartment in the soldier’s quarters. His hair was plastered to his face and his arms were aching from carrying Harry, it was quite a long ways. But it was worth it, for Harry. He’d be safe.

He pushed the door open and carried Harry inside, tracking mud in with him. Zayn would be furious, but he didn’t care. He knew Zayn was passed out in his room, so he wouldn’t be there to tell him how he would get killed for bringing Harry in here.

He carried Harry into the small kitchen and sat him on the table. He was crying harder now and got up, scrambling towards the door. It was crazy how scared he was of Louis, it made his heart ache uncomfortably. He grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him back. “Stop trying to run away, if a guard sees you they’ll shoot.” He said softly and took in Harry’s appearance for a moment. He had mud dried on his face with clean streaks where his tears had fallen.

He didn’t have a clue with what to do with him now. He didn’t even want to be here, he was scared to even be around him. He was crazy thinking Harry would ever love him back. He was completely stupid; Harry would never trust a Nazi.

He looked back to Harry and let go of his arm, and Harry just stared at him. “Just kill me already! Get it over with!” He yelled. He was quite brave.

Louis shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not going to kill you Harry.” He muttered, feeling ashamed as he looked at his feet. He shivered at the thought of having to kill Harry. “Why were you on the fence?” He asked softly, taking a step towards Harry.

He just backed away even farther, shaking his head. “C’mon, just shoot me!” He said, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Please, I’m begging you Louis!” He cried.

Louis was taken aback when he heard Harry say his name. “How do you know my name?”He asked, not getting any closer to Harry this time, fearing he would run. Harry just put his face in his hands and cried.

“Why do you keep crying? I’m not going to kill you Harry, I’m trying to help you.” He explained, watching Harry lift his face from his hands.

“Why would you help me?” He asked, it came out as almost a snarl. He didn’t believe it at all. Louis sat down at on one of the old wooden chairs and gestured for Harry to do the same. He shook his head and stayed right where he was, not having any intentions of moving.

Louis rolled his eyes and reached out for Harry’s mud ridden arm and pulled him into the chair next to him, trying to be as gentle as possible. “I’m not any happier to be here than you are.” He said and let Harry’s arm fall after he was sitting. Harry refused to make eye contact though, he just stared down at his muddy work pants.

“My father forced me to become a soldier with him. I’m not going to hurt you, nor do I want to.” He said, but Harry didn’t seem to be buying it. “Can you at least talk to me?” He asked, staring at the top of Harry’s head.

Harry didn’t say anything, he was just fiddling with a gold ring on his finger. Louis’ eyebrows furrowed. How did he get it past all the guards? They usually took all valuables off of the Jews that they could. He needed to find a way to get Harry to talk, he wouldn’t even look at him. This was going to be difficult.

~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harry was scared out of his mind.

He’d wanted to die, was that too much to ask for? He didn’t want to be sitting in Louis’ apartment, even if it was warmer than the hut he usually stayed in and he felt a lot safer here. He still wanted to die, and he was determined to.

But Louis was obviously not the person that would do it. Or so he said he wouldn’t.

“Food? Do you want food? I have bread, milk, soup..?” Louis said and he heard him get up and open the refrigerator he remembered seeing in the corner. He still didn’t say anything, he was still sure that this was a trap.

He lifted his head when a glass of milk and a thick slice of bread was placed in front of him. His stomach growled, but he wasn’t giving in. He just looked between the food and Louis’ face, which was now next to him again after he sat down.

Well, if Louis was going to kill him, and this was a trap, why not just eat? He hadn’t had milk in years, and he hadn’t seen such a large portion of bread either. He cautiously reached for the milk and took a small sip of it, loving how it slid smoothly down his rough throat. Louis was smiling at him as he did so.

It didn’t take long, actually only a matter of seconds for the milk to be gone. “Thank you, sir.” He mumbled and looked at his lap. He didn’t want to eat the bread quite yet, in case Louis had some plan that involved tricking him.

“Do you want more?” Louis asked eagerly, picking the glass up and carrying it back to the refrigerator. Soon another tall glass of milk was placed in front of him. He stared at it after Louis set it down.

“Don’t call me sir.”He said, sounding a bit annoyed. “Stop crying, I’m not going to hurt you.” He repeated and Harry reached up to feel his face. He hadn’t even noticed the tears on his face. “I want to make sure you’re safe, I won’t let you get killed.” Louis said softly, and Harry felt his stomach lurch. He wanted to make sure he was safe. The feeling of being cared for filled him from head to toe, and it felt nice.

“Why me?” Harry asked, his voice sounding weaker than he’d intended it to. “Why not someone else?” He asked, shifting his gaze from the glass of milk to Louis’ face.

He heard Louis sigh loudly. “You just seem.. different.” He said and Harry stared at him curiously.

“What do you mean, different?” Harry asked, picking the bread up off of the worn wooden table just because he was literally starving. He picked off little bits of it and put them in his mouth.

“I’ve been watching you from the first day you’ve been here.” Louis said sheepishly, and he looked down at his lap. “I watched your family disappear until it was only you left.” He explained quietly, sympathy in his voice.

Harry’s stomach dropped and he put the bread down. His family, haunting his thoughts again. Louis was one of the people that allowed his family to be brutally killed. But then he remembered what he said, that he’d been forced to enter the army. He nodded slowly, signaling Louis to continue.

“I’ve just felt.. a certain connection towards you.” He said quietly. “Like I needed to help you.”

Harry still didn’t say anything. “You didn’t kill them.. did you?” He interrupted, his voice cracking slightly. He saw Louis shaking his head quickly.

“I’ve only killed two people in the seven years I’ve been here, and neither of them was someone from your family.” Louis assured him. Harry took the bread again, feeling his hunger come back. He put small pieces of it in his mouth and chewed slowly, thinking about everything Louis just told him. One thing kept sticking in his head. ‘I’ve just felt.. a certain connection towards you.’ He couldn’t love Harry, that couldn’t be right at all.

“What do you mean by, feeling a certain connection?” Harry asked after silence filled the room for a minute. He watched Louis’ eyes widen nervously and he coughed.

“Erm.. I’m not sure.” He said, obviously lying.

Harry narrowed his eyes, but decided not to push him for answers. He was lucky he’d made it this long in a Nazi’s apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis’ cheeks were still red when Harry decided to let the subject go. He didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t tell Harry why he said that, because he wasn’t sure himself. He didn’t know if he loved Harry like he loved his mother, or his sisters. Or if he loved him the way he’d loved one of his girlfriends before he came here. But, he couldn’t be gay. He couldn’t love Harry that way, being gay was wrong. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a thud come from Zayn’s bedroom.

“Who’s there?” Zayn slurred, and Louis heard a glass break as it hit the floor. He looked over to see his black haired bunkmate. Harry dropped the bread and got up from the chair quickly trying to escape, but Louis grabbed his arm. Zayn saw the yellow star on Harry’s jacket and his eyes widened. “Jew! A Jew’s escaped!” He yelled drunkenly on the top of his lungs.

Louis dropped Harry’s arm and told him to stay there. He ran to Zayn and clapped a hand over his mouth. “Shut up, he’s with me.” He snarled and Zayn shut up. He walked back over to Harry and pulled him back into the chair. Zayn wandered back into his room eventually and Harry was shaking with fear.

“It’s okay Harry, he’s gone.” He told Harry and grabbed Harry’s shaking hand. Harry pulled it away and stared at him with fear in his eyes. Right, he was a German, whether Harry talked to him or not. Things would never be the way he wanted to.

“Can I go back to my bunk now?” Harry asked, his voice becoming small and scared again. He had to remember to whack Zayn over the head later for being a bastard, he’d ruined all the progress he’d made with Harry.

Louis nodded and stood up. “I want you to come back tomorrow. I’ll get someone to take my shift, and I’ll say I’m just going to beat you or something.” He said and saw Harry take a step back from him. “No! No, I won’t actually beat you. I’m just going to tell them that so they don’t get suspicious. I want to keep talking to you.” He said, looking into Harry’s eyes as they became more relaxed.

Harry nodded and Louis smiled. “You can have the rest of the bread.” He said and handed him the rest of the chunk of bread. Harry stashed it in his coat pocket and smiled a little at him. He took Harry’s arm of his jacket and led him back out into the brisk morning air, the sun was just starting to rise.

Louis led him back to his hut, where everyone else was still asleep. He stood in the corner and Harry laid on his bunk, and pulled the blankets over his legs. He took the bread out of his pocket and started eating it. He saw the ring on Harry’s finger again and remembered the picture he had.

Louis reached into his pocket and pulled the wrinkled picture out. “I almost forgot.” He whispered and laid the picture on Harry’s lap. He smiled a little again and Louis smiled back. He walked back to his corner and watched Harry finish the rest of his bread as the sun slowly rose in the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry slowly ate what was left of the bread, his mind racing with thoughts. He finished his bread and still wondered what Louis meant by the connection he felt. Because Harry thought that he felt the same connection, and he wanted to know if Louis did feel the same. It was eating him alive, and he felt almost sure that Louis did feel the same.

Why else would he have saved him, three times now? There was something going on, and Harry was determined to find out. He fell asleep, no nightmares haunting him. He couldn’t wait to see Louis again tomorrow, and drink milk and eat bread with him.

And he fell asleep thinking about escaping this hell with Louis.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry woke to someone shaking him, a soft, gentle, familiar hand. He opened his eyes to be met with a pair of blue ones. "Wake up, everyone else has already left." He whispered hurriedly and let go of his shoulder. He watched Louis walk out of the hut and he rubbed his eyes sleepily. He'd never slept that well in this camp.

He got up and followed Louis out the door, to find that it was about double the temperature yesterday. The heat reflected off of the sandy ground and he already started sweating in his heavy coat. He walked alone to the edge of the forest, where they'd meet to go back to the huge grave they were digging. He tried not to think of it as a grave, just a hole they were digging.

He stood, alone again, at the edge of the forest as him and the rest of the prisoners waited for Louis to arrive and take roll call. He couldn't help but hate Eva even more right now, because now he had no one. Except Louis, he reminded himself. He could hear Eva's name being tossed around in whispers, the girl who'd escaped. And who was now going to be killed. He shuddered, and prayed they'd just forgive her and let her go back to work. But he knew that wouldn't happen.

As if on cue, Louis stepped in front of them and started calling off names. He raised his hand slightly when it was called and they were soon in a single file line, trudging their way through the forest. He was more nervous today than he was yesterday, because yesterday he had Eva's comforting warm hand on his back just so he knew she was still there.

They finally came to the clearing in the forest with the large hole, but this time there was a pile of bodies next to it. The horrible smell of death filled the air, and the smell of the bodies sitting in the heat. Louis explained that the stronger group would lift the bodies into the pit, and then the others would throw dirt on the bodies once they were done. Louis paused and his eyes met Harry for a moment. It confused Harry, because his eyes looked scared.

He heard rustling in the trees and he saw Rudolf Hoess dragging a person who looked very bruised and beaten into the clearing. He called the attention of everyone by yelling at the top of his lungs. He stood next to Louis at the front of everyone and smiled evilly. "Good morning, you pigs." He said laughing and threw the woman on the ground. Then he recognized her. Eva.

Tears stung his eyes and he held back a sob as his eyes met hers. "I'm here.. to show you what happens if you try to escape. Like this one." He said and kicked Eva in her side, and she fell to the ground. "Tomlinson!" He barked and Louis hurried over to him. He pulled Eva up onto her knees and Harry knew what was going to happen. Rudolf didn't have a gun, only Louis did. Eva was crying, and Harry was at this point too.

"C'mon Louis, shoot her! Don't just stand there!" Rudolf yelled at Louis, and Louis shakily raised his rifle and aimed at the back of Eva's head. He put his face in his hands, he couldn't bear to watch. He heard the crack of the bullet being thrown from the barrel of the gun and the thud of a body hitting the ground. He let out a sob along with half of the other people. He heard Rudolf bark something about staying out of trouble and told them to get back to work. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Louis staring at the ground in front of him.

Harry followed his gaze to the ground and saw Eva's lifeless form, laying in the dirt. He looked away quickly and wiped the tears from his cheeks. His friend, his best friend, was dead. They'd found her. She hadn't made it home.

Louis yelled at him and the other people that were just standing there to get shovels and work. He shakily picked up a shovel and saw the other half of the people lifting corpses into the hole. Some man picked up Eva's broken and bruised body and threw her into the hole. She was young, she had a family, a life ahead of her. And just because she was Jewish, just like that, in a matter of seconds, her life was taken away from her.

He and the rest of the prisoners continued throwing dirt onto the endless amount of bodies being thrown into the pit until the sun started to set in the sky. They dropped their shovels and Louis led them back into the forest. His hands were sore, and he had blisters all over them from the hard wooden shovels.

They reached the edge of the forest and Louis called out everyone's names, and everyone was there. Thankfully, they wouldn't have to watch anyone get killed tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis watched as the prisoners started walking back to their huts, Harry one of them. He ran after Harry and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "I'll come get you after you eat, alright?" He whispered and the fear left Harry's eyes and he nodded. He ran off to his hut to eat with everyone else. He walked to the soldier's part of camp and sat on one of the benches, his face in his hands and his gun at his side. He'd killed another person, another innocent soul.

He could never apologize to that woman, or give her her life back. She was gone, and it was his fault. It was his fault that her family was now grieving over her death and the reason that Harry had cried back in the forest. His fault that she wouldn't make it out of this place after the war ended. It was all his fault, he was a monster.

He felt like he was in one of those comics he used to read as a kid, with the superheroes and the villains, and the innocent helpless people that the bad guys always had to put in danger. Him, and the rest of the Nazi party, were the villains. They kidnapped the innocent people and killed them because they hated the good guys, the superheroes. For absolutely no reason.

He was shaken from his thoughts when Zayn came and sat next to him and pat him on the back. "Heard you killed another Jew, good job!" He said with a smile and squeezed his shoulder. Louis shrugged it off and avoided eye contact with Zayn. He wasn't even close to being proud for killing the woman.

Zayn got the point that he was upset and walked away, probably to go have a drink and play cards with all the other drunken soldiers. He got up from the bench and walked towards Harry's hut. He walked in and saw Harry staring at the picture of his family, an empty soup cup on the floor next to him. He tapped him on the shoulder and he looked up from his picture.

Harry quickly stowed the picture away in his pocket and Louis grabbed his arm. "We might run into some other guards, whatever I tell them isn't true." He whispered and led Harry out of his hut. He walked through the middle of camp, dragging Harry behind him. He saw another guard approaching him, and he started to get nervous. "Hey! You there!" The soldier said, pointing his gun at them.

Louis' eyes widened and he shook his head. "Just going to bring this Jew to Rudolf, no worries!" Louis yelled back and pulled Harry roughly alongside him. The guard let it go and returned to his spot and Louis quickened his pace. He had to stop every once and awhile because Harry kept tripping. They finally made it to his house and he pulled Harry in quickly before closing the door. He bolted it shut and let out a sigh. "We made it." He said with a small smile.

He walked into the kitchen and Harry followed. He sat down at the table and Harry sat down next to him. He didn't seem near as nervous as yesterday, but still seemed very jittery. If he was Harry, he would be too. It was hard to trust people here, they could so easily betray you.

He got up and got a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with milk, because he knew Harry liked it. He considered his other plan, about gaining Harry's trust, a success. His new plan was to get Harry to talk, and he himself needed to find the guts to tell Harry about his feelings. But that part would take awhile.

He set the glass of milk in front of Harry and sat back down next to him. He swallowed nervously and saw how sad Harry looked. He took a deep breath and put his face in his hands. "I killed your friend." He whispered, shaking his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry reached forward to take the glass of milk and sipped at it slowly until he heard Louis mention Eva. He stopped drinking and put the glass down, and cleared his throat quietly. "I know." He replied, equally as quiet as Louis.

He knew Louis wouldn't have done it if Rudolf hadn't made him. But it didn't stop him from being nervous to come here tonight. Because maybe Louis wasn't who he seemed to be.

Harry looked over at Louis as his body started shaking, and he heard what he swore was crying coming from Louis. "Are you okay Louis?" he asked quietly. But Louis didn't answer, he just kept crying into his hands. He genuinely felt bad for killing Eva.

Louis shook his head again and looked up, wiping the tears from under his eyes. He'd never seen a Nazi cry before, they all seemed like rocks with no emotions. But Louis wasn't like the rest of them.

The next thing he knew Louis was throwing his arms his arms around Harry's skinny shoulders, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. Harry was in shock, he didn't know what to do. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around Louis, feeling like he was being suffocated. Louis pulled away and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to kill her, I really didn't. It's Rudolf, he's my boss. I can't say no to him." He said through the tears and Harry understood.

He waited for Louis to calm down before speaking. "I understand." He said and reached for his glass of milk again. He remembered Louis telling him he'd only killed two other people the whole time he'd been here, and he knew it was probably also because Rudolf made him. Louis wasn't a killer at all, it was only because he was required to.

"I knew there was something different about you. You never beat or kill people, and then you saved me like that. Thank you." Harry said and took a sip of his milk, the cold liquid soothing his throat after the hot day in the forest.

Louis looked up from his hands again and sniffled. His lips curved slightly into a smile and he looked down at the table. "You're welcome." He said and took a few deep breaths to get himself to stop shaking. "Do you want something to eat?" He asked and looked back to Harry, but Harry just shook his head.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Harry silently drinking his milk and Louis absent mindedly twisting his hands in his lap. "Louis?" Harry asked, and looked over at Louis. His eyes shot up from his lap to meet Harry's. "Yes?"

Harry looked away from Louis' hypnotic eyes and down at his glass of milk. "You never told me why you saved me." He said quietly and wrapped his hands around his cold glass. He swallowed nervously and hoped Louis wouldn't get mad at him for asking, but he knew he wouldn't. Because Louis wasn't the monster he seemed to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Louis stared over at Harry and thought about his question for at least two minutes. Because he didn't know the answer, and Harry probably knew that. It was at least the third time he'd asked, and he'd failed to give him an answer. "Well, if you saw a dog in the street, and a car was coming towards it, wouldn't you try to save it? You wouldn't just watch it get hit. Like I wasn't just going to watch you get shot." He said and looked down at the worn wooden table.

That was a lie, because there was so much more to why he saved Harry rather than just instinct. He made himself keep quiet, he couldn't tell Harry just yet. Even if he wanted to, how would he tell him? 'Hi Harry, I actually saved you from getting killed because I'm in love with you and I want to escape Auschwitz with you.' No, he couldn't do that.

Harry just nodded and drank the rest of his milk. The silence turned awkward and Louis coughed and stood up. "Want me to walk you back to your hut?" He asked as Harry stood up too. It was barely a question, Harry couldn't walk by himself. He'd get shot. Harry nodded anyways.

He took Harry's arm in his and led him out the door. They were a few feet away when he saw Zayn stumble into the house after them. He pulled Harry towards the hut and led him into it once they reached it. Harry lay down on his bunk and smiled a little up at Louis and he smiled back. He walked over to the corner he was assigned and laid his head against the wall.

He felt better now that Harry didn't completely hate him for killing the woman, nor did he fear him and not want to talk to him anymore. He let his eyes flutter closed for a moment and opened them quickly. The same thing was happening like after he killed the two boys. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the woman's bruised and pleading face as he aimed to kill her.

He clenched his eyes shut and the images weren't as clear, it helped. It was like she was haunting him, and he deserved it. He killed her, without much hesitation. She would never know how sorry he was, how he wasn't a terrible person who killed a lot of people.

He opened his eyes after he realized there was no hope of sleep. He glanced over at Harry, who had already drifted off. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, trying to better his plan. He had absolutely no idea how he would tell Harry. He was even considering not telling him, but that would ruin all his plans of escaping with Harry.

He first needed to find the strength in himself to tell him. Then he needed to convince Harry that he'd be safe with him if they escaped. They would have to flee Poland, because most of it was taken over by the Germans. If he brought Harry back to his home in Germany, they could probably keep him hidden until the war was over. His father was going from camp to camp, and he knew his mother wouldn't mind, because she didn't agree with the Nazis at all.

He finally fell asleep against the wall, trying to ignore the many holes and places to mess up in his plan, trying to just focus on the ending. Being away from this place, with the only person he wanted. Harry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it's been awhile hope you like :)x

“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”   
― Yehuda Bauer

Louis was jerked awake, and opened his eyes to see that it was light out. Sweat was dripping down his forehead, and he was breathing heavily. He wiped the sweat off of his face with the back of his sleeve and tried to calm himself. The nightmares were horrific, and they were back after being gone for so long. Eva was haunting his dreams, and he couldn’t do a thing about it.

He’d forgotten to wake everyone in the hut up, and now they’d all be late and everything was messed up so early in the day. He yelled at everyone to wake up, and they all started stirring and getting out of their bunks. He walked outside and the Jews silently and slowly made their way out of the hut. He’d have to explain to the head of each station where the people worked that he’d woken them late. Setting his grave digging behind schedule.

He decided he’d just go to Rudolf and ask him to tell all the other guards, he’d understand. He walked off to the leader of the camp’s house and took a deep breath before knocking briskly on the door. He shivered in the cool morning air as Rudolf swung the door open. “What do you want?” He spat, his words slurring together. Drunk, at 8 in the morning.

“Good morning, erm, I accidentally woke my prisoners up late. They won’t be able to get to their jobs on time.” Louis started, looking up at the very intimidating man standing before him. His lips curled at the sides into an evil smile and he chuckled.

“Tomlinson, Tomlinson. Why would you do such an idiotic thing?” Rudolf asked, laughing as he stared at him. Louis shrugged a little and looked to his feet. He hated talking to him, he was so afraid he’d say something wrong and then get punished. “Go fucking take care of it. I’m not your mother.” He slurred.

He looked up, only to be met with a large force hitting the side of his head. It took him a moment to realize that Rudolf had punched him, and that he was now sitting in the dust on the ground. He opened his eyes and held the side of his head as it throbbed. He heard Rudolf’s menacing laughter as the door of his house swung shut with a loud thud.

He sat up and waited for his headache to subside. He just prayed that his prisoners he was supposed to take into the woods were waiting patiently for him. If not, he’d be in major trouble. He stood up and picked his rifle up too, realizing he’d dropped it after he fell over.

He walked to the edge of the forest and saw the crowd of people standing there, eyes wide with fear. One pair a little more familiar though, the bright green eyes staring at him. He reached up and gently brushed his fingers along his cheek, wincing because he knew and could feel the large bruise forming. He sighed and stepped in front of everyone.

He started calling off names, hands rising and fear escaping their eyes. He liked to think that most of the prisoners liked him, even though he knew that was far from true. Not that it mattered, because he was pretty sure at this point Harry had to have some positive emotions towards him. He turned around and started walking slowly through the brush in the forest, everyone else following him

They walked and walked, and he found himself getting tired about halfway through. He couldn’t help but imagine how the prisoners survived walking this much, and working on top of it with little food and even littler sleep.

Louis eventually led them to the clearing and saw the pile of new bodies sitting next to the hole, the smell of death filling the air. He ordered everyone to resume what they’d been doing yesterday, and they soon got to work. He crossed his arms and watched them work, some lifting bodies into the hole and others shoveling dirt on top of them.

He couldn’t imagine having to live like them. He tried to imagine his family in their position, having to do such work and getting mistreated. It made him want to cry again, because no one deserved that.

He thought back to the night before. With Harry. He needed to get an answer together, because he knew Harry would ask again. He was so close to gaining Harry’s full trust, and he knew if he told Harry what he’d been dying to tell him it would change everything. ‘Why did you save me?’

He stared thoughtfully at the ground and tried to come up with an answer that didn’t completely give him away. He could just come out and tell Harry, plain and simple. But that almost guaranteed that he’d run. Unless of course, he loved him back.

He looked up to see Harry staring at him with concerned eyes. He shook his head and flashed Harry a small smile, it made his heart swell because it felt like Harry actually cared for him.

He looked back to the ground, trying to resume his thoughts. It didn’t work, he was lost. And the sun was starting to set in the sky, slowly climbing downwards into the horizon.

He lined everyone up again and started leading them back through the forest. His eyelids were growing heavy, and it was hard to keep them open even as he walked. He yawned a few times and heard multiple yawns from behind him.

Then something hit him. He didn’t have to be this way. He didn’t have to be this horrible person who treated people so badly. If he could secretly help Harry, give him extra blankets, extra food, why couldn’t he do that for everyone else? He thought about ways he could help everyone the whole way back, and he even found himself smiling a little. Because maybe they wouldn’t think he was as much of a monster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry slowly trudged through the forest, his muscles aching and his hands sore. He hadn’t been able to think of anything besides Louis the whole day, and his black eye.

He knew he’d gotten punished for waking them all up late and he couldn’t help but think it was partly his fault. He’d kept Louis up later last night. And now he had a black ring around his eye to prove it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Louis’ voice calling out names, a hand rising each time. They were sent off to their huts so he slowly started walking away. He was stopped, same as yesterday, turning around to be met by the same blue eyes he’d been longing to see. He momentarily forgot that one of them was ringed in a black bruise. “I’ll come get you again, same as yesterday.” Louis whispered and smiled a bit.

Harry’s heart skipped a beat and he turned around to walk quickly to his hut. He knew it was crazy, but he knew he loved Louis. He barely knew him, and he was a Nazi. But the way he seemed to care so much for Harry. Giving him food, letting him come to his house to talk, the extra blankets, saving his life. He actually felt cared for. Loved. Even if Louis didn’t love him.

He sat on his bunk and picked up the bread off of his blanket. He groaned, seeing it was moldy once again. He sometimes wondered if they just gave them the food the soldiers didn’t eat. It was likely.

He tried to scrape some of the green fuzz off of the top before biting into it. He didn’t mind that it wasn’t very filling, he knew Louis would give him food. He loved that feeling, knowing there were better things to come. Not just living knowing you were going to die anyway. He felt the little bit of hope start burning in him again. He was sure it was gone forever after the fence.

Sometimes, he wished he would’ve jumped the fence, that Louis wouldn’t have saved him. Then he wouldn’t have to drive himself crazy wondering if Louis wanted to help him or if he wanted to kill him. Sometimes he wondered if it would’ve been easier that way.

He picked his soup off of the ground and lifted it to his lips. He slowly sipped at it, smiling to himself because it was actually warm today instead of the usual cold. He drained the bowl in a matter of seconds and lay down, watching the sun slowly sink in the sky. He knew Louis would be there to get him soon, and it made his stomach feel weird. But he liked it, in a way.

He looked to the door as it creaked open, seeing Louis walk through it. He smiled and sat up from his bunk. He walked over to the door and Louis took his arm, rather roughly, the same as the day before. He didn’t know quite why, but he felt that Louis was a lot more trustworthy now. Maybe it’s because he’d seen him crying yesterday. Or maybe because of his new found love for the soldier.

Louis pulled him to his house in the soldier’s part of camp and into his small house. It was warm, and he felt immediately more comfortable the moment he stepped in. It was like home, a safe place in Auschwitz. In a sort.

He found himself not being afraid of Louis anymore, even though he could kill him at any moment with the rifle sitting against the table they sat at. But Louis wouldn’t do that. Louis wanted to help.

Just the same as the day before, and the day before that, a glass of milk was set before him with a large slice of bread. He muttered a thank you and picked up the glass to drain half of it in one gulp.

He looked up to see Louis smiling at him and he couldn’t help but put the glass down and smile back. He just had that look on his face that made you want to smile along with him.

They sat in silence for awhile after he looked away to his lap, Louis doing the same. He had the same burning question in the back of his head, but he didn’t want to ask Louis. He wanted to know the answer so desperately, he’d just wait until Louis brought it up, If he even did.

He glanced over at Louis who was fumbling with a loose string on his jacket, obviously thinking deeply about something. He picked up the bread, the fresh bread, and slowly picked at it. His stomach was growling, and it slowly subsided as he ate the bread.

He soon finished the bread and Louis still hadn’t said anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis looked over at Harry who looked extremely nervous. He looked over at the small clock on the wall and realized over an hour had passed without either of them talking. Harry was probably too scared to talk.

“I know why I saved you now.” Louis said quietly, keeping his gaze on his lap. He felt Harry’s eyes land on him and he looked up to meet his eyes for moment. He looked back down at the table and cleared his throat. Harry was waiting for an answer. He was so afraid he’d say something wrong, and Harry would run away back to his hut. He couldn’t have that happen.

He took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve always noticed you were different than everyone else here. You’re always so careful about doing everything, so no one will try to hurt you.” He started and kept his gaze on the table as his finger ran tiny circles across the surface as he talked.

“And.. It always seemed like you were so determined to get out alive. With your family. But then they got killed, and I saw that leave you.” He said and cleared his throat again. “And it broke me. I felt horrible, because people like me did that to you and your family.” He said quietly.

“And when I saw him point the gun at you. I couldn’t just watch you go. Because part of me,” He said even quieter as he looked up to meet Harry’s eyes again. “Loved you.” He whispered and looked down at his lap, his heart hammering in his chest.

He waited to see what Harry would do. Run out of his house screaming, tell him it was wrong. But he did nothing. He just sat there, staring at his glass of milk. He wished he could’ve read Harry’s mind, because his emotions right now were either good or bad. And his face gave nothing away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry stared at the table, in shock.

Louis couldn’t have just said that. He couldn’t love him. He’d always thought about it, but he was sure it couldn’t actually be true. This couldn’t be happening.

His heart was beating so fast in his chest, that he was sure Louis could hear it. What could he say? ‘I love you too?’ He couldn’t say that.

He glanced over at Louis, and he looked extremely and equally as nervous as himself. Maybe this wasn’t a joke after all. But he wasn’t going to tell Louis that he felt the same way. He needed more time to weigh the options. Consider the consequences.

He nodded once after a few minutes, and he heard Louis sigh loudly. “Can I go back now?” He asked quietly and looked over at Louis. He nodded and stood up, and so did Harry. “You’ll come back tomorrow, right?” Louis asked as he picked his gun up.

Harry nodded quickly as Louis opened the door. “Of course.” He said and followed Louis out the door.

They walked in silence back to the hut. He didn’t have anything to say yet, and obviously Louis didn’t either. But Harry’d heard all he needed to.

Harry lay on his hard bunk after they’d made it back to the hut, and Louis stood in his usual corner. He stared out his window, wondering how, or if, he should tell Louis that he loves him too. Louis probably thought that he didn’t feel the same, considering he hadn’t said anything after Louis told him. But he’d know soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis stood in the corner, his head swimming with a million different thoughts.

He’d messed up majorly. Harry didn’t say anything in regard to what he said, except for the nod. But he did say he would come back. So maybe things weren’t terrible. But that didn’t mean he’d get any sleep tonight

He looked around at the sleeping prisoners around him, except for Harry who wasn’t sleeping, but staring out the window. He didn’t even let himself wonder what he was thinking about.

He walked to the closet in the wall across the hut, and let his rifle sit in his corner. He pulled one of them out and turned to the first person he saw, and draped it over his shoulders. He reached for another blanket and did the same to the prisoner next to the first, until everyone had a blanket. He smiled to himself and walked back to the corner, feeling better about himself. Only then did he realize that Harry’d been watching him the whole time.

He stood back in his corner and let his head rest against the cool wooden wall. He took one last glance at Harry, who was asleep now. He yawned and reached up to rub his eye, which was still probably purple. It would go away soon enough.

He let his eyes flutter shut, but he didn’t sleep. His mind was racing with thoughts about Harry. Not that he minded the boy’s beautiful face flooded his mind. He fell asleep, content that his dreams were no longer filled with Eva’s bruised and hopeless face. But with Harry’s, happy and smiling back at him.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry woke up the next morning, to laughter.

He opened his eyes, thinking that he would see a group of soldiers laughing at him again. Instead, he noticed that it was his fellow prisoners laughing. He turned his head and looked down the row of bunks to see Louis with a loaf of bread, breaking pieces off and handing them to different people, a huge smile on his face.

He furrowed his eyebrows, what was he doing? He would get in trouble… Unless no one told. Louis made his was down the row until he reached the corner where Harry’s bunk was. Louis smiled at him and handed him a rather large chunk of bread. “Thanks.” He muttered and pulled a piece off of it.

He sat cross legged on his bunk, eating his bread happily. He hadn’t had breakfast in so long, because they always for some reason had to skip it. He looked over at the small boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, in the bunk across from him, who was happily eating his bread. He met the boys eyes and the boy smiled at him and climbed out of his bed.

He scrambled up onto Harry’s bunk and sat cross legged next to him. He looked up at Harry and he couldn’t help but smile back down. “Hi, I’m Alex.” He said happily and folded his tiny hands in his lap. Harry put the rest of his bread in his mouth and looked down at Alex.

“I’m Harry.” He said and looked down at his lap.

Alex looked over at him, and then to Louis in the corner who was watching them. “I like that soldier. He’s nice. He gave us all blankets last night and then he gave us bread.” He said and put a small chunk of bread in his mouth.

Harry looked over at Louis. He turned to look at everyone else. It seemed like everyone was talking to each other, being happy. He watched Alex finish the rest of his bread, and he smiled the whole time. He’d noticed the little boy before, and he reminded Harry of himself when he was younger. His parents were long gone, and he didn’t have anyone. He often heard him crying, and it was nice to see him happy. “I like him too.” Harry said smiling over at Louis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis crossed his arms and watched all of the Jews eating their bread, and he felt happier than he had in a long time. He actually forgot that Harry hadn’t said anything to him yesterday.

He heard the whistle of the soldier’s outside, signaling for everyone to get to work. He yelled over the noise of everyone talking and told them they needed to go. He reminded them not to tell anyone. Which he knew no one would.

Everyone got up from their bunks and he waited until everyone left to go out too. He was walking towards the woods and saw all of the people already there waiting. He called out the names, everyone had showed up.

He led them into the forest, his happiness slowly fade away. It had been nice while it lasted. It started to rain while they walked, and his hair started to stick to his forehead.

His boots started to sink into the mud and his legs started to ache. He was exhausted by the time they reached the hole.

The new bodies were already there, and the stench was worsened by the rain. He ordered them to start working and took shelter under a large tree. They started lifting the bodies into the hole, the others digging as usual.

It looked extra difficult to shovel the dirt out of the ground, since the hole was filling with water and now they were shoveling mud.

He watched Harry, shoveling alone. He would’ve paid anything to be able to hear what he was thinking. It was eating him alive, wondering if he felt the same. Sometimes, he thought that he did. But then he’d go and do something to make Harry nervous, or not trust him. Other times, he would do something stupid, and think Harry hated him, but then Harry was eager to be around him. At least he’d get an answer tonight when Harry came over. Maybe.

It was confusing to say the least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry pushed his wet curls from his face and shoved his shovel back into the mud, and flung it out of the hole.

His arms were throbbing, his legs weak. No different from most days. He knew Louis was watching him, and both of them were wondering the same thing. Did Harry love Louis back?

He’d been asking himself that question from the moment they stepped into the woods. He knew that tonight Louis would expect an answer, just like he’d expected an answer from Louis. He needed to seriously start thinking harder.

He shoveled some more mud out of the hole and moved over a little to start digging in a new place. He wondered if, deep down, he did love Harry, but his better judgment was stopping him from believing it. His head knew it was wrong to love a Nazi, but his heart didn’t care at all. But sadly, most of the time his mind overruled his heart.

He looked up when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. He saw Louis bending over to pick something up, but he didn’t look long enough to see what. A soldier in the opposite corner had noticed that he’d stopped shoveling, and looked like he wanted to kill. He resumed shoveling and kept his eyes on the dirt.

Harry pushed his hair from his face again and pushed the shovel back into the soft earth. He tried to think about Louis, his eyes, his hair, his smile. He always seemed happy, despite being in such a horrible place, which he knew Louis would agree with.

He was a caring person; he helped not only Harry but other Jews. Just like this morning with the bread, and according to Alex he’d given them blankets last night. Maybe he did love Harry. Who cared if he was a Nazi? He wasn’t like the others, he was far different.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the whistle blew and the soldiers yelled to them to line up. He stood in line behind everyone else and they filed into the woods. The rain was coming down harder now, and he let his hands slip into the too-long sleeves of his coat and he wrapped his arms around his chest as he shivered. The wind started to pick up, and leaves started flying around and stuck to his clothes.

He hid his face in his jacket and closed his eyes as he walked, and after what seemed like hours they reached camp. Louis called off their names and they were given permission to go back to their bunks. He slowly walked through the mud and into the hut, warm from all the other people shoved into it. No one was laughing anymore, no one smiling. The rain and lack of food must’ve brought everyone else’s mood down too.

He picked up his moldy bread and took a small piece off of it. He kicked off his shoes and sat cross legged on his bunk. He looked over at Alex across from him, he was crying. He frowned and put his bread in his pocket before walking over to his bunk.

He sat down next to him and pulled the small boy into his arms. “What’s wrong?” He asked quietly and hugged him tightly. Sometimes that’s exactly what someone needed when they were sad, a tight hug. His mother always used to hug him when they were in the ghetto and he would get scared.

“M-my sister. She got killed.” Alex whispered and turned to put his red face into Harry’s coat. His heart dropped and he hugged Alex tighter. He knew exactly how he felt. When they went to the ghetto, one of the S.S. officers came in the middle of the night and took Gemma away. He couldn’t think about anything else for a month.

Harry let Alex cry on him for a few minutes before he pulled his bread out of his pocket and handed it to him. He heard a small ‘thank you’ and he proceeded to run his hand over Alex’s back. “My sister got killed too. A while ago now.” He said quietly as Alex ate. “What was your sister’s name?”

Alex swallowed and looked up at him. “Eva.” He whispered and looked back down at his bread. Harry’s heart literally broke into two and his eyes filled to the brim with tears. Eva’s little brother. She’d had a brother, and he’d just find out that he’d never see his big sister again. The girl he probably looked up to his whole life. He hugged him tightly and they cried together. It was Louis’ fault. It was all his fault. He let Eva get away in the woods. He shot her. He was the reason for this.

He should’ve seen it earlier. Louis was really a Nazi, a cold blooded killer. He killed Eva, but he also killed this boy’s heart. He heard the door open on the small bunker and saw Louis walk through. He hugged Alex tighter and stared up at him. “You coming Harry?” Louis asked him quietly, a smile on his face.

Harry shook his head quickly and pushed himself into the corner of the bunk, pulling Alex with him. “Go away.” He whimpered quietly and pushed his face into his own shoulder so he wouldn’t have to see Louis’ face. He knew he’d crack and go with him, but he couldn’t let his heart win anymore. His head knew best.

He heard Louis’ heavy footsteps as he walked out the door. Alex was shaking now, and there was nothing he could do but let him cry.

“My sister got taken away from my family when I was younger. I know how you feel.” Harry whispered and pressed his cheek to the top of the boy’s brown hair, the exact same shade of Eva’s. “Eva was my best friend here.” He said and lifted his head to look down at him.

“How did she get killed?” Alex asked, wiping his eyes with his fists as he stared down at his feet. He didn’t know whether or not he should tell him, and he decided against it.

“Don’t worry about it Alex. You’ll be better off not knowing.” Harry whispered. He would’ve said something like, it was fast, or it was painless, but that would be lying. She was beaten until she was blue and then shot as an example of what happens if you tried to escape. It wouldn’t be right for Alex to imagine his sister that way.

Alex’s sobs began again and were muffled by Harry’s jacket. It would seem like he was done crying, but then it would turn to sobbing again. After awhile, the sobs quieted and were replaced by tiny, ragged breaths as he slept.

He was going to get up and go back to his bunk, but Alex would whimper in his sleep everytime he moved the slightest bit, and he couldn’t move after that. He was no doubt having nightmares. Harry just held Alex to his chest, trying to keep his tiny body from shaking.

He couldn’t sleep, as much as he wanted to. He ended up staring at the tattoo on his arm, his name according to the Nazi’s. Just a number. Like he was some sort of animal, not even cared enough for to be named because it was just being raised for slaughter.

He eventually fell asleep, only to be woken in the middle of the night by Alex crying in his sleep. He was going to wake him, but that might mean he wouldn’t get back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Louis walked back to his apartment, his heart broken.

He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand one bit why Harry told him to go away. Harry always seemed so willing to come with him, even after he did something bad.

But when Harry told him to get away, all his hope of Harry having any feelings towards him went away. He just didn’t get Harry at all, and he was through with trying.

He lay on his bed once he got into his apartment, not even bothering to take his shoes off. He stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t even done anything, if anything he was better to everyone than most days. He thought he’d been on the brightest side of Harry’s good side today.

And then his dreams were crushed. He didn’t know what to do anymore. He was exhausted, stressed, and overall pissed to the maximum.

He got up from his bed and walked into the kitchen. He went to the fridge and got one of Zayn’s beers from the fridge. He flipped the top off and took a large swig of the bitter liquid. He hated drinking, which is usually why he strayed from the weekly drunken games of cards that Zayn always attended. But he knew this is the only way he’d feel better.

He drank the rest of the beer in a matter of seconds and went to the fridge for another. He already felt his worries fly out the window, and by the time the first sips of the second beer hit his mouth he was numb.

An hour later, he’d missed his shift and had 6 empty beer bottles sitting around him, and was drinking his 7th as he stared at the wall in front of him. He still tried to figure Harry out, but after a few seconds of wondering the thought went away.

A few minutes later he passed out, his head hit the table and his heart broke in two. Because he’d lost the one thing worth living for.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading ily:)x

Not a word was exchanged between the green eyed Jew and the blue eyed Nazi for an entire week.

Louis stayed as far away from Harry as possible. Harry obviously didn’t want to be around him, and maybe he’d finally realized the mistake he’d made in trusting a Nazi. He went about doing his job as best he could, but he still couldn’t figure out why Harry just suddenly stopped wanting to see him.

He figured that he didn’t real need a reason, Louis wouldn’t trust himself if he were Harry either. He tried not to think to hard about it, it hurt too much.

He’d work all day, and then go back to his apartment and drink. He’d drink until he was numb, until he didn’t care about anything but finishing the drink in front of him.

When he drank, he didn’t have to worry about anything. He didn’t care if Harry hated him. Or if he never even talked to him again. But deep down, he missed Harry. Little did he know, Harry missed him too.

Business went as usual for Harry, he worked, he ate, and then he slept. He just didn’t go to Louis’ anymore. He usually ended up hugging Alex as he cried until he fell asleep. He missed Louis, but everytime he thought about it he just remembered that it was because of Louis that Alex was crying.

But he saw Louis every day. Going into the woods, and standing in the corner before he fell asleep. He made it very hard to forget him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry woke up to someone tugging on his sleeve and he opened his eyes to see it was Alex. It was light out, and he remembered with a groan that he had to work now. He followed Alex and everyone else outside and he parted ways with Alex to walk to the woods.

Louis was waiting for him, as usual. Everyone else waited around him. He met Louis’ eyes and looked away quickly. If he looked too long, he knew he’d cave and ask Louis if he could come over again.

He didn’t just miss the glasses of milk and the fresh bread, he missed talking to Louis.

He followed everyone else into the woods, and wondered how much longer they’d need to dig that God forsaken hole. The pile of bodies was renewed every day and it seemed like it would never end.

He was starting to get weak again, his boots felt a million times heavier on his feet and his coat on his shoulders. He found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open by the end of the work day. He knew he didn’t have much time left before he was killed. And Louis wouldn’t be there to save him when it happened.

He picked up his shovel once they reached the woods and started digging, making the enormous hole even bigger. Bodies piled in after he dug, and he wondered if it would ever stop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis watched the Jews shoveling the dirt, but he was only really focused on one.

He needed to ask Harry what was wrong, it was driving him absolutely crazy. That was one of those weird things he had, if something bothered him he had to find out otherwise it ate at him until he did find out.

So he decided to ask Harry why he was being so distant and strange all of a sudden. He had to have some reason, and he didn’t really care what it was. He just needed to know. He already had pretty much every response Harry could have in his head. Simply, he probably was scared and didn’t trust him anymore. Which he understood.

He actually took a good look at Harry for once, and he looked really sick. His eyes were sunken in from his lack of sleep, his skin pale and bruised. He could see Harry’s wrists when he reached down to shovel more dirt out, and they were too skinny to be even close to healthy.

He looked over at his shoulder at the sun setting and heard the whistle blow. The sunshine shined through the trees, and it was one of the prettiest things he seen, in one of the ugliest places.

He led everyone back through the woods, going over what he would say to Harry once they were back. He glanced back at Harry every now and then, but he just kept his eyes on the ground.

He called off everyone’s names once again and everyone started to walk away, including Harry. He ran after him and grabbed his arm. Harry whipped around, his eyes wide with fear.

“No, Harry it’s okay.” Louis muttered and pulled Harry away from everyone else. Harry pulled his arm out of Louis’ hand and stared at him. “Why are you ignoring me now?” He asked quietly and stared back at Harry.

Harry just shrugged and looked down at his feet. “What did I do? Is it because I said I loved you?” He whispered and Harry’s eyes shot back up at him. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to bring that back up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Harry’d almost forgotten Louis had said he loved him the last time that he’d been to Louis’ apartment. He swallowed thickly and scratched his neck awkwardly as he looked back down at his feet. “No, it’s not because of that.” He said and decided he would tell Louis.

He glanced back up at Louis and into his eyes he looked really worried about him. A Nazi, worried about him. He remembered how upset Louis was after he’d killed Eva. How he’d cried and hugged him. He really did feel bad. And now he felt stupid once again, because Louis wasn’t a monster at all.

“You killed my friend.” Harry said quietly and folded his hands in front of him. That wasn’t it at all, because he wasn’t sure why he was avoiding Louis. “I saw how upset it made her brother, Alex. That’s the little boy that was with me the other day.” He said softly and watched Louis’ expression change.

He looked guilty again. He wanted to hug Louis and say it was okay, but there were people everywhere. He turned back to Louis, who now had tears in his eyes. He was probably the softest Nazi he’d ever met.

“Can I talk to him? Can I talk to Alex?” Louis whispered, staring at him through his tear filled eyes. Harry nodded and smiled a bit at him and looked back towards his bunker.

“I’ll go get him. Can you come get us in a few minutes?” He asked in a whisper and Louis nodded. He turned away and started walking towards his bunker. He wasn’t sure if Alex would feel comfortable going with him, but it would be best for him and Louis. And even Harry.

He walked inside and Alex was eating his bread on his bunk. He sat down next to him and Alex sat up a little straighter and smiled. “Hey Alex.” He said as he crawled over to wrap his tiny arms around his waist.

Alex muttered a hello and Harry hugged him back. “I need to take you somewhere. I have someone who needs to talk to you.” He said softly and looked down at Alex, who was staring back up at him with worry in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, he’s nice.” He assured Alex and stood him up. Louis walked in, as if on cue, and pulled Harry out by his arm. Alex squealed in fear and sat back on his bed, tears in his eyes. He probably thought something bad was going to happen. “No, come on little one.” He whispered and took Alex’s hand.

Alex hesitantly took it and Louis pulled them out into the cold. Alex started crying as they walked, and he figured he should’ve better explained what was going to happen so Alex didn’t freak out.

They made it to Louis’ apartment and Alex was still crying. Louis led them into the kitchen and sat down, motioning for Harry and Alex to do the same. He let Alex sit in the chair next to Louis, and he sat down next to Alex.

He was literally shaking with fear. “Alex, this is Louis. The nice Nazi, remember?” He asked with a small smile, referring to when Louis had given those blankets and more bread. ‘Nice Nazi’, it was like completely opposite. Alex nodded slowly and wiped the tears running down his dirty face, leaving little clean trails down his face.

“He wanted to talk to you.” Harry said and looked up at Louis. Alex looked up at him too, through his teary eyes. He noticed Louis was on the verge of tears again, and it made him want to cry too. Louis obviously understood the seriousness of this, and he could tell that he now knew how much he’d affected Alex.

It was heartbreaking to watch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis stared into the small, brown, teary eyes that were staring up at him through his own blurry eyes. He’d been here since the war started, and he knew what sad was. But this was even worse than sad. He sniffled a little and took a deep breath before beginning. “I’m sorry Alex. I’m the one who killed your sister.” He whispered, keeping eye contact with the young boy.

Alex’s eyes widened and the fear grew in his eyes as he scooted back towards Harry, tears flowing down his cheeks.

“No! No, please don’t be scared of me.” Louis said sadly but Alex kept his distance. How did he explain to an 8 year old that this was his job, to kill people and hurt people like him? “I didn’t mean to. I promise, I had too.” He said, begging for Alex to come back.

Alex pulled away from Harry and sat back on his chair, but still kept his distance from Louis. “Why did you have to kill her?” He asked so quietly, that he could barely hear. But he did, and he sounded so broken and sad. He’d taken away his big sister, the girl he looked up to. He could never forgive himself.

“It’s my job. I have to.” Louis whispered, and Alex nodded. He probably knew to some extent what was going on. Everyone knew somewhat.

“I didn’t want to at all. I don’t like hurting people one bit. And I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that I hurt your sister.” He said, wiping his eyes as he stared back down at Alex.

Alex nodded slowly and looked down at his lap, tears still falling from his eyes. Louis leaned towards him and wrapped his arms around the boy’s smaller frame and pulled him in for a hug. Alex didn’t hug back, and he tried to squirm away, but he didn’t care. The poor boy just looked like he needed a hug.

He released Alex and wiped his eyes again. Alex smiled the tiniest bit for a split second, but he saw it. He saw that Alex didn’t think he was all that horrible now. He looked over at Harry, who was smiling wider at him. That was all he needed. He just needed to know that he had something, something to live for once this hell finally came to an end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Louis had given them both bread and milk, which they were both very grateful for, he led them back to their bunker.

He waved goodbye and Alex went to his bunk, Harry to his. Harry crawled under his blankets and closed his eyes, feeling a lot better than he had this morning. Things were finally fine with Louis, and now maybe Alex wouldn’t be quite so sad anymore.

He heard a tiny voice calling for him, and he looked over at Alex. He saw a pair of eyes staring over at him. He sighed and got out of bed to walk over to Alex’s bunk. He crawled under the covers with him and hugged Alex to his chest as he started crying again.

Just the same as every night, he hugged Alex as he cried. Soon enough, the sniffles went away and were replaced with tiny little breaths as he slept. He closed his own eyes with a sigh and thought about Louis. He shouldn’t have just ignored him after his mind was doing stupid things. He knew Louis wasn’t a horrible person deep down, but just seeing Alex like that made him lose it.

He knew he’d have to wait longer now to tell Louis that he felt the same towards him. It made him uncomfortable, having to keep his secret. He reminded himself that it would soon be out, and maybe things would get better for them. Most likely, not.

But maybe, just maybe, things would get better. Maybe they could escape. Louis could get him and Alex out. They could go into hiding. Then when the war was over, they could get a house and be happy together. Do things that normal people did. And then maybe, he’d know what it was like to feel freedom again.


	10. Chapter 10

Things were relatively normal for the next few weeks.

Louis would bring the prisoners into the woods, bring them back, and then Harry would come to his apartment. The war seemed to be coming to an end, and Harry’s life hadn’t been threatened lately.

Louis hadn’t killed anyone, and Harry seemed to be trusting Louis more and more every day. At his apartment, Louis would feed him the fresh bread and they’d talk and sometimes Harry would even laugh. He actually laughed, and it wasn’t forced or empty. A real laugh.

Harry actually felt safe when he was with Louis. It felt nice knowing that someone cared for him, and that someone would be there after he got out of here. If he ever did.

But Louis encouraged him not think negatively though, that’s what killed most people here. They gave up hope, and they died from the bundle of sadness that was growing and growing the more they fed it their sorrow. They didn’t even attempt to fight back, they surrendered themselves.

And for Harry, being around Louis made him forget that his family was gone, his house destroyed. He made him feel whole again, as if he had never been empty at all. But he still hadn’t responded to Louis’ ‘I love you.’.

In their eyes, things were actually looking up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Harry was waiting patiently on his bunk, chatting quietly with Alex as they ate their food. Since Louis had told Alex that he was his sister’s killer, it gave him some kind of reassurance that his sister wasn’t killed for the amusement of some drunken Nazis or something.

There was a knock at the door and Harry knew to get up and go outside. He said goodbye to Alex and stood up. Everyone else in the bunker had gotten used to it and they all didn’t freeze in fear anymore, they just kept doing whatever they’d been doing.

He walked out the door and smiled at Louis. His eyes seemed a little brighter, and his hair was done different underneath his hat. He had something planned. “Hi.” He said and started walking next to Louis through the darkness.

They chatted quietly as they walked to his apartment, and Louis held the door open for him. He walked in and Louis followed. They sat at the table and Louis raised his eyebrows. “I got something for you.” He said with a smile and walked away from the table.

Harry smiled back and waited patiently, looking around the apartment that seemed somewhat cleaner. Suddenly, Louis appeared with a small wrapped package. He furrowed his eyebrows and took it from Louis when he handed it to him. “What is it?” He asked and tried to read the label, but it was in Swedish.

Louis laughed and ripped the wrapper a bit. “It’s chocolate.”He said and looked up at Harry.

Harry grinned back and broke off a chunk. He hadn’t had chocolate since he’d been home, and that was forever ago. He put the small piece of it on his tongue and closed his eyes as the feeling of home surged through him. It was great.

He broke off another larger piece and put it in his mouth. “Thank you!” He laughed and put more in his mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis laughed and rest his chin in his hand as he watched, he knew Harry would love the gift. It cost him a lot, but it was worth it for Harry.

A few minutes later, Harry had finished the bar of chocolate and was giggling at everything Louis said. It must’ve been loaded with sugar, and it went straight to his head. Louis just laughed along though, it was nice to see him so giddy and joyful.

He chuckled as Harry started trying to read the Swedish words on the wrapper. Harry stopped suddenly, and looked up to meet Louis’ eyes with a large smile. “I love you.” He giggled.

Louis froze, and the smile fell from his face. His heart literally stopped. “Y-you what?” He asked, wondering if he’d heard correctly.

“I love you.” Harry repeated, staring at him curiously as he emphasized each word. He giggled and his eyes fell back on the wrapper, as if he hadn’t just said anything.

The corners of Louis’ lips turned up and he stared at the top of Harry’s head fondly. His heart was swelling with admiration for him, and he knew he hadn’t felt this happy in a very long time. Someone loved him, someone cared.

~~~~~~~

Harry wasn’t sure why, but he had the sudden courage to admit his love for Louis. So he did. His mind wasn’t really functioning correctly with all the sugar, so his heart took over like it always did.

He looked up at Louis, who was giving him a funny look. “You love me too?” He asked and slouched down in his chair a little. Maybe he’d just made a fool of himself and he’d dreamed when Louis told him he loved him so long ago.

Louis shook his head quickly and reached over to seize Harry’s free hand in his. “I do love you.” He said with a sheepish smile. Harry blushed and looked down at their hands.

He looked up, and Louis’ face was a lot closer to his than it used to be. “W-what are you doing?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. His heart started beating faster, and his palms started to sweat. He hoped Louis didn’t have in mind what he thought he did. He’d never even been kissed before. What was he supposed to do? Pull away? He couldn’t do that.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, that it caught him off guard when Louis’ lips came crashing down on to his own. His eyes widened, was he supposed to close them? He did anyways, and before he could even enjoy the fact that Louis’ lips were moving against his own Louis pulled away. Because someone had barged through the door.

“Jew!” Zayn yelled at the top of his lungs as he stormed through the door. Harry stood up, the chair clattering to the floor behind him. “Jew!” Zayn screamed again, taking a step towards Harry. Louis was screaming at Zayn to shut up, but he wasn’t’ giving up. He just kept screaming, and Louis couldn’t get him to calm down.

“There’s a Jew in our house! We need to kill it!” He yelled and ripped out of Louis’ tight grip. He took a step towards Harry and lifted his rifle to point it at Harry. “How did you get in here?” He asked, putting his finger on the trigger.

Harry just whimpered and curled in on himself as Louis tried to pry the gun out of Zayn’s hands. “Stop! Leave me alone!” Zayn protested. “Stop trying to take it or I’ll shoot!” He threatened and Louis took a step away.

Harry looked over at Louis, who looked equally as scared. “Zayn, just calm down. Let’s talk this out.” Louis said calmly, putting his hand on Zayn’s shoulder. He was drunk obviously, and it was going to be hard to persuade him.

Zayn shook his head and aimed the gun at Harry again. “Not until this pig is out of my house!” He spat and Louis rolled his eyes. He yanked the rifle out of Zayn’s hands when he was ranting about how disgusting Jews were.

He threw the rifle onto the floor and Harry watched as Zayn advanced towards him when Louis wasn’t looking. “I don’t need a fucking gun; I’ll kill him with my bare hands!” He proclaimed and took a hold of Harry’s throat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis turned around to see Zayn strangling Harry, and his face was turning purple.

“Zayn!” He yelled and ran forward to pull Zayn away from Harry. He was gasping for air, and Zayn was laughing hysterically. “Look at him! He can’t breathe!” He slurred and Louis clenched his fist in anger. How could Zayn treat a person like that?

The next thing he knew, his fist was hitting Zayn square in the jaw and Zayn fell back onto the ground. He stared up at Louis in shock before scrambling off to his room.

Louis turned back to Harry, who was staring at him with the same shock Zayn had. His eyes were filled with fear.

He ran over to him and took Harry’s hands away from his throat to see large bruises. “I’m sorry Harry.” He said and looked back up into Harry’s eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked and looked for any other sign of Harry being hurt.

Harry shook his head. “M-my throat is just sore.” He said, all the giddiness gone from before. Louis hugged him tightly and Harry just fell limp.

“He won’t come back and do it again, w-will he?” Harry asked and Louis pulled away from the hug. He shook his head and noticed Harry was crying. He was probably scared out of his mind. He was supposed to feel safe, not have to worry about someone choking him.

Louis shook his head and wiped the tears from underneath Harry’s eyes. “No.. I won’t let him hurt you again Harry. I’m so sorry.” He said and looked down at the bruises. They seemed to scream out at him what an idiot he was for turning his back on Harry.

Harry just nodded and Louis picked up the chair that had fallen before and sat Harry in it. He picked the rifle up off of the floor and put it back in the corner. He didn’t want to think of what would’ve happened if he hadn’t taken it from Zayn.

“He just gets drunk and decides he hates Jews more than he does when he’s sober.” Louis explained and got a towel out of the drawer and filled it with ice from the box. He handed it to Harry, who held it against his neck.

Harry didn’t say anything and just kept his eyes on his lap. Louis sighed and threw off his hat to rake his fingers through his hair. He messed it up. Everything.

“I love you Harry.” Louis said, looking over at Harry again. Harry smiled a little and looked back up at Louis.

“I love you too Louis.”He said and reached over to take Louis’ smaller hand in his. Louis entwined their fingers and he saw a bit of happiness flash in Harry’s beautiful eyes. He decided then that Harry was a beautiful person. Inside and out. And he was determined to keep him that way.

~~~~~~~~~  
Harry’d almost completely forgotten about his throat because Louis kept making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside and he loved it.

Louis would squeeze his hand and tell him something funny and soon all of his worries were gone. He was exhausted, but he didn’t want to go back to his bunk.

He leaned over and laid his head on Louis’ shoulder and his eyes fluttered closed as Louis told him random stories. He laughed everyone once and awhile, but it was hard to stay awake at this point. He fell asleep soon after Louis put his arm around him, and felt a lot safer than he had in awhile.

~~~~~~~~~~  
Louis talked a good half an hour before he realized Harry had fallen asleep. He sighed and looked over at him, seeing how peaceful he looked. He didn’t have the heart to wake him up and bring him back to his bunk. He could sacrifice his bed for one night, he decided.

So he picked up the skinny boy in his arms, and brought him into the room next to Zayn’s. It consisted of a chair in the corner, a small bed in the other, and a wardrobe against the far wall. He laid Harry down gently onto the mattress, and took the towel full of ice from him. He tucked the thin blankets around his tiny frame and leaned down to kiss his forehead. He really did love him.

He got a spare blanket and pillow from the wardrobe and laid them on the floor. He curled up on the cold surface and closed his eyes. It wasn’t near as comfortable as his bed, but he owed it to Harry for putting him in danger.

He wished Harry could stay with him every night. And they could eat chocolate together, and laugh until Harry fell asleep. But he knew down inside that this was a onetime thing. They couldn’t do this every night. It was only a matter of time before Zayn came home not drunk, and realized that Harry kept coming.

The idea of escaping still lingered in the back of his mind. He wanted to escape. If the war ever ended, he’d be arrested for being a member of the Nazi party. And Harry wouldn’t have anywhere to go or anyone to go to.

They had to escape. He had to come up with a plan to get them both out of this mess.

Then they could be together in peace. No Zayn to catch them, no more Rudolf Hoess to punish them. They could eat chocolate and bread and milk every night and talk and kiss until the sun came up. It sounded like heaven to him.

And with that, he fell asleep, with thoughts of freedom and the one he loved on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment your thoughts :) ily all x.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for reading :)

Harry woke up in the morning, in an unfamiliar room.

He slowly opened his eyes wider and looked around. He looked to the floor and saw Louis sprawled out underneath a blanket. He furrowed his eyebrows and then everything came flooding back to him. The chocolate, the kiss, Zayn.

He reached up to feel his throat and opened his mouth to talk, but his throat was incredibly sore and he couldn’t make any noise. He sighed and slumped back down into the pillow that smelled like Louis did, aftershave and outside.

He stared up at the ceiling for awhile, wondering what was going to happen now. How was he going to get back to his bunk? He couldn’t just walk out of Louis’ apartment and go unnoticed.

His thoughts were interrupted by Louis groaning in his sleep. He rolled onto his side and looked down at him as he started to wake up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and smiled shyly down at Louis as his eyes opened.

Louis smiled back and muttered a tired ‘good morning’ before sitting up. Harry opened his mouth, intending to return the good morning, but instead came a hoarse cough from deep in his throat.

Louis shot up from the floor and was soon by his side, eyes wide with concern. “Are you okay?” He asked worriedly, gently running a hand across Harry’s back as he continued coughing into his elbow.

He eventually stopped and shook his head. He pointed to the bruises on his throat and recognition flooded Louis’ eyes. “Oh, right.” Louis said and looked down at his lap. It was obvious he still felt horrible for not protecting Harry from Zayn’s outburst.

“You can’t work like that. I’ll take you to the hospital, okay?” Louis said and stood up, helping Harry up too. Harry just nodded and followed him out of the room. He was incredibly scared, but he had to keep it in.

He’d heard such stories of the hospitals. People getting worse diseases from the other patients, being beaten and sometimes even killed. But the worse was when the S.S. guards came through and made sure that everyone was actually sick, otherwise you got hung in front of everyone.

He shivered as the cold air hit him when he and Louis walked out the back door of his apartment so no one else would see them walking together, Nazi and Jew.

Louis grabbed his arm roughly as they walked into the hospital, but he was used to it. Louis would get in a lot of trouble if other Nazis saw him being nice to Harry.

Louis let his arm fall and he stood there as Louis walked over to the doctor that had once told him he wasn’t fit enough to work, and had almost gotten him killed. He watched as Louis talked to him and told him that Harry wasn’t in any condition to work.

 

It was a quite dismal place, just a small building with a few hard looking beds and some very eerie looking medical tools on one wall. There was a wall of cabinets and then a large pot in the corner.

He turned to look around, he could feel the hopelessness in the air. Most of them looked like they were dying and they would last much longer, and that was the saddest. Except for one boy, who was sitting in his bed and fiddling with the sheet covering his legs.

He was blond, and very thin, much like everyone else here. He didn’t look as sick as the others, but still miserable.

He didn’t get much of a closer look because the doctor was dragging him over to a bed by his arm. He was shoved down onto it and pushed back into a laying position. The doctor barked to one of the nurses to get some of the soup from the pot in the corner, and he just sat there feeling scared again.

He looked around for Louis, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He wasn’t there to protect him anymore. Tears slid down his cheeks as a friendly looking man brought him a small bowl filled with hot water and rotten potatoes.

He took the bowl from the man and looked up at him to see the yellow star sewn onto his jacket. A Jew, working as a nurse. The man smiled down at him when he caught Harry’s eyes with his own soft brown ones, and it made him feel a bit better. It didn’t seem so bad here, except for the Nazi doctor. But he seemed to have gone away too.

He started to sip at the soup once the man left, and looked around the hospital again. He noticed the same blond boy next to him, the one he’d been looking at before. The boy looked up at him, bright blue eyes meeting his.

The boy smiled, and waved a little. He looked about the same age as himself, but he had a childish glint in his eyes. He wondered how he looked so happy for being in Auschwitz and being sick. He raised his free hand and returned the wave.

He looked back down to his soup and continued sipping at it. His throat was still incredibly dry and sore, but it was helping a little. He knew he wouldn’t be able to go to Louis’ every night anymore, and that made him want to get out of the hospital even more.

“Hi, I’m Niall.” He heard a small voice say, and he looked over to the blond boy, who was apparently named Niall. He just waved again and tried to introduce himself as Harry, but instead a fit of coughs came from his mouth.

Niall’s eyes widened and he slumped down into his pillow. “I’m sorry.” He said and Harry shook his head as he coughed. He spooned more soup into his mouth and his throat felt better again.

The nurse came back and took his soup from him, telling him to rest. He heard Niall address him as Liam, so he figured that was this friendly man’s name. He gladly laid down under the thin sheet and closed his eyes, feeling exhausted from all the coughing and fear he’d been feeling since Louis had left, even if it had only been an hour or so.

He closed his eyes and shivered in his thin coat. He longed for Louis’ warm apartment with the thick cotton blankets and warm bread. But at least he didn’t have to dig in that dreadful hole anymore.

But being in this place could mean death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis came back from the woods and practically ran to the hospital.

He prayed that the doctor hadn’t killed Harry or done anything bad to him. He was a horrible man, willing to do anything to the Jews for the sake of his dangerous experiments. And it was his fault that Harry had to be in the hospital in the first place, and he still couldn’t get over the guilt.

He walked in and looked around until he saw Harry sleep on a bed in the corner. The doctor didn’t seem to be anywhere, but a Jewish nurse he was familiar with, Liam, was helping a blond boy next to Harry. He walked over to Harry’s bed and kneeled down next to him. He looked the same as he’d left him, tired looking and bruises covering his throat. He sighed and grasped Harry’s hand in his.

He hadn’t meant to, but that caused Harry’s eyes to open and land on Louis. He smiled and kissed Harry’s hand. “Hi.” He said softly and Harry smiled a little. His heart fluttered because he’d caused that smile. He’d made Harry happy again.

He got up to walk over to the fire in the corner that was heating a pot of soup. He poured some into a small bowl and carried it over to Harry, since Liam seemed busy with helping the other boy. He handed it to Harry and watched him slowly eat it.

“Are you feeling any better?” He asked with a frown, and Harry nodded. He pushed a curl from Harry’s face and Harry nodded. He couldn’t let Harry stay here very long, otherwise the doctor would notice and have him hanged. And that couldn’t happen.

He just watched as Harry ate his soup, trying not to think that he would have to leave Harry soon to go back to his apartment. “They didn’t hurt you?” He asked and ran his hand over Harry’s cold arm. Harry just shook his head and kept eating. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, he was just over thinking everything. Harry would be fine.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Liam. “You must go now, the doctor will be back soon and will be upset if he sees you here.” He said with a sad smile and Louis just nodded. He leaned down and kissed Harry’s forehead before standing up. Harry looked scared as he put his soup down, and he smiled to get him to calm. “It’s okay, I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?” He said and pushed Harry’s hair gently from his face again.

Harry nodded sadly and he kissed Harry’s forehead again before walking out the door. He walked slowly back towards his apartment, wishing Harry could have come with him. It was his fault, he reminded himself. He kicked the rocks as he walked, hearing drunken laughter coming from the apartment where Zayn played poker. He couldn’t see how people could bring themselves to be happy when they are such people who kill people for their own amusement.

He walked into the apartment and kicked off his boots before walking into his room. He laid down on his bed and stared up, wondering what Harry was doing. He laughed out loud at himself, he couldn’t even go a few minutes without worrying or thinking about Harry.

He’d been thinking a lot lately about what would happen once the war was over. He had to get out of here with Harry before it ended, otherwise he would be arrested and put into prison for being a part of the Nazi party, if they lost the war. Which was what would probably happen, everyone else was just too oblivious in order to see it.

If they escaped to another country quickly enough before the war ended, they both could easily escape capture. He laughed again, it was a lot easier to plan these things in his head but extremely difficult to put into action.

He fell asleep with those thoughts on his mind, wondering if it was even possible to escape. Even if it was, he would still try if it meant he got to be with Harry.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry couldn’t fall asleep, even after the lights went out.

He was scared, that someone would come in the middle of the night and kill him because he wasn’t sick enough. He actually longed for his hard bunk and Alex to talk him to sleep. He couldn’t sleep with worries on his mind.

He just fiddled with his sheet as he heard all of the other patients snoring around him. He didn’t want to think about tomorrow, and if the S.S. guards would show up or not. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head, but it wasn’t working.

He considered asking Louis if they could just get out of here. He was just afraid that Louis wouldn’t want to do that, because they could easily get caught. But if they didn’t, they could be happy and be together in peace.

He sighed deeply and pulled the sheet up to his chin. There he went again, worrying. He just pictured Louis’ smiling face, the way he was when he visited him in his apartment. Always laughing and smiling and telling stories. He loved that Louis, and he wanted to be with him forever.

And it killed him inside, knowing it was almost impossible.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry awoke, once again, in an unfamiliar room.

He opened his eyes, and immediately jerked up. He was in the camp hospital, the one place he knew he wasn't supposed to end up in. Then he remembered what Louis had said. He would be fine, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to him.

With that he slouched back onto the bed with a sigh of relief. He looked over at the only other person awake, Niall. He was staring ahead at the wall, and he wondered if Niall had anyone to make sure he wouldn't get hurt in the hospital.

He looked to the other side of the room, where he saw the nurse Liam preparing the soup in the pot in the corner. He seemed nice enough, but not nice enough to trust. Liam had done the same thing every morning he'd been here, for a week now. He was much a person of routine.

He got more and more nervous every time he woke up, because he was convinced that the S.S. guards would come and check the hospital and take him away when Louis was at work, and wouldn't be able to save him. He shook his head, just wanting to sleep until this war was over. But it didn't work that way.

"What are you staring at?" He heard Niall ask and Harry's eyes shot over to look at Niall. He shrugged and turned to his lap as he twiddled his thumbs.

"Thinking." He said simply leaned back against the wall. What else was there to do?

"Thinking about what?" Niall asked, swinging his legs off of the bed to stare at Harry. He just kept his eyes on his lap, wanting the conversation to be over.

"Louis." He said, wishing Niall would just drop it already. Niall let out a laugh and folded his legs on the bed. He liked to tease Harry about Louis, and Harry could easily do the same considering it was quite obvious that he fancied Liam.

He looked over at Niall and the smile had fallen from his face. "He won't get you out of here Harry. Don't get your hopes up for nothing." He said and turned to lay on the bed again.

Harry frowned and crossed his arms. "Louis said he would get me out. I trust him Niall." He said and turned back to stare at the wall. He didn't know how Niall was so good at reading him, after only knowing each other for a short week. "You're just envying me because you don't have anyone to get you out." He said with a satisfied feeling. He'd won that fight.

He turned back over to Niall when he heard sniffling. He'd made Niall cry. "Hey, Niall I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." He said, the feeling going away quickly. He'd made Niall sad. On top of already being filled with dread and sadness. He'd just made Niall feel even worse. And now Niall wouldn't respond.

He sighed in defeat and slumped down farther into the pillows. Liam brought him his bowl of disgusting soup and he ate it quickly. They fed the people in the hospitals even less. Niall hadn't touched his about a half an hour later. He was usually the first one done.

He laid back down to sleep after he ate. He couldn't stand thinking about everything for too long. It made him worry about pointless things too much. The second his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

He was woke up again shortly after by a loud knock on the hospital door. He figured it was the doctor, since he hadn't been in yet today. He reached up and rubbed at his eyes, trying to make them look bloodshot. He'd get beaten if he didn't look sick.

The door swung open and Niall and the rest of the patients woke up. Standing there were two tall, muscular men brandishing guns and Nazi signs. The S.S. guards.

His breath caught in his throat and he heard a sob from somewhere in the room. Liam went up to them quickly and asked them to come back when the doctor was in, trying to save them. But they ignored him and pushed past.

"Everyone, up. Line up for inspection." The larger, taller one barked. He shot up from his bed, his heart beating out of his chest. Niall stood up too, and hid behind Harry's tall frame as the stood in the line behind the rest of the sick people.

He saw the needle being passed back, and he rubbed the blood over his cheeks quickly before anyone noticed. 'Look sick.' He said to himself. He handed the needle to Niall after he was done and looked back at the line. It was getting really short at this point, and he was getting closer and closer to the front.

His turn came and they checked him over, ripping at his clothes to see the skin underneath and prodding him everywhere with everything. The smaller one scratched at his bearded chin and shook his head. "This one is not sick." He said and pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the group of people, also dubbed healthy. He walked over in a trance, not believing this was happening. He heard Liam protesting with the guards, insisting that he was ill. They ignored him and moved onto the next person.

Louis wasn't there this time, Niall was right. He wouldn't save him. He couldn't be there every time Harry was getting picked out. He was doomed to death before the war ended and there was no changing that. He used his luck up.

He was brought back from his thoughts when he felt someone hugging him and sobbing into his chest. Niall. He hugged Niall back, burying his face into his bony shoulder as the tears came from his own eyes. A few months ago, he was wishing for death, he anticipated it. Now, he couldn't be more scared of it.

The line came to an end eventually and Niall pulled away from him to look around for Liam. He knew that they were in a similar situation as he and Louis were. Liam was a Jew, but had special privileges since he was a nurse. Which meant he didn't have the authority to save Niall.

They were told to line up and that they were to be brought to the 'showers' in the morning. He shuddered and tears filled his eyes again. He wouldn't even get to say goodbye. The showers, which meant the gas chambers.

They lined up and started to file out of the hospital, and his body was shaking with fear. His throat felt close and sobs wracked through his body again, much like the rest of the people in the line. They walked through the cold, windy field to a bunker next to the others, but it was much smaller. They filed in and sat on the benches that were lined up against the walls.

Most of the people were crying, their face in their hands as sobs came from their lips. Most of them probably didn't get to say goodbye either, if they even had anyone left.

He sat next to Niall, keeping his arm against his just as a reminder that he wasn't alone. He couldn't find the strength to cry anymore. He had lost all energy, all hope. Just like Louis told him not to. 'It's why people die. The will to survive dies inside of them.' The words rang through his head, but he couldn't do that. His fire was gone, his will dead. It was over.

He realized he must've dozed off when he woke up to moonlight streaming through the tiny window at the top of the far wall. Only a few more hours until his death. He felt a lump in his throat and held it back, not wanting to wake everyone up so they could worry too.

He stared at the wall for what seemed like forever until a soft tap came at the locked door of the bunker. His eyes shot over to it, and saw it crack open a bit. "Harry?" called a barely audible whisper.

~~~~~~~~

"Harry?" Louis whispered into the door. He opened it a little more, praying Harry was in there. He went to the hospital after he came back from the woods and Liam was crying in the corner of the hospital, where about only half of the patients remained.

He'd been looking for Harry ever since, with no luck. He sighed and closed the door to the bunker, figuring it was just another bunk that didn't contain Harry. He turned to walk to the next one and check for Harry.

He had the plan in his head already. He'd find Harry, sneak him out of wherever he was, and get them past the gate by saying that he was taking Harry to the train to send him to another camp. The guards would let him through and they'd just have to get a train to Austria, where they could hide until the war was over. His plan had so much room for mistakes, but he didn't have time to perfect it now.

He whipped around when he heard a knock from the other side of the door. He unlocked it again, figuring it was just an inhabitant of the bunker that heard him. Then he'd have to say no when they asked if they could get out.

He opened the door and saw a pair of green, bloodshot eyes staring back at him. He opened the door quickly and pulled Harry from the bunker and into his arms, a bone crushing hug. He heard Harry let a cry out into his shoulder in surprise and knew they had to move fast. If anyone saw them, they were done. He took Harry's arm and tried to tug him away from the door, but he was pulling back from him.

Harry was shaking his head quickly and pointing back at the dark doorway. He let Harry's arm go. Maybe he didn't trust him to take him away. He swallowed nervously and waited to see if Harry was coming back.

He was just about to lock the door when Harry came back, a tired and drained looking Niall stumbling behind him. "We have to take him." Harry whispered desperately.

He looked at Niall who stared at him with pleading eyes. He couldn't leave him behind. Liam wouldn't be able to get over it if Niall got killed. Then he stopped again.

Liam. He had to take Liam too. He groaned and nodded, gesturing for them to get out of the bunker quickly as he locked the door. He took Harry's arm and started walking quickly back towards the hospital, where Liam was probably still moping in the corner. Harry grabbed Niall's arm and dragged him along too.

They got to the hospital and saw Liam sitting on the doorstep. "Liam!" Louis called quietly, but loud enough for Liam to hear. His head shot up and his eyes widened as he saw the three shadowed bodies. He scrambled up and ran over to them, taking Niall in his arms as he cried loudly.

"Liam!" Louis scolded, swatting at his arm. "You have to be quiet. We can't get caught. We're getting a train to Austria. We'll be safe there." He explained, making eye contact with them to make sure that they all understood the seriousness of what was going to happen.

"Now I'm going to say that we're going to the trains that would take you to another camp." He explained and pulled at Harry's jacket, the rest of them following.

An hour later, they were outside the gates of Auschwitz and Liam was crying again in an empty field next to the camp as Louis started ripping the star off of Harry's jacket, two other yellow Star of David's sitting next to him from Liam and Niall's coats.

"I thought I lost you." Liam whispered as he ran his thumbs over Niall's equally as tear stained cheeks. Louis sniffled as he ripped the seams of Harry's star, not even wanting to think about what he would've done if he hadn't found Harry.

"It's okay now though, because you're together." Harry said, watching the two a few feet away from them. He heard Liam break down again and saw him hug Niall again in the corner of his eye.

He sighed and finally ripped Harry's star off. "There." He said with a small smile of victory. He leaned over and kissed Harry's cheek, because he looked just as scared as he'd been at the bunker.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Louis said quietly, taking Harry's face in his hands to look into his eyes. "I'll make sure you're safe from now on. We'll get to Austria fine and be happy. Okay?" He whispered and smiled a little. Harry nodded a little and returned the smile, but the scared look was still there.

He turned back over to where Niall was still comforting a still broken Liam. He stood up, pulling Harry up with him. "Cry on the train. We need to get going." He said and watched as Niall helped Liam up.

He took Harry's hand in his tightly, smiling over at him as he ran his thumb over every ridge of his bony knuckles. He would make sure Harry was safe, make sure he had enough food. He wanted to give him the world, and that still wouldn't make up for what his people had done.

The closest train station was a few miles away, so they'd just have to walk. He waited until Liam was recovered from crying until they started walking, his hand in Harry's and Niall's hand in Liam's.

~~~~

To anyone that was watching, they would look like any four normal people. Silhouettes shining in the dark night. You wouldn't be able to tell if they were Jewish, or German. Black, or white. If they were men, or if they were women. They were all people, just people walking.

And to anyone watching, they would just look like four little figures only illuminated by the moonlight. Just four people, walking hand in hand. But they meant everything to each other. And that was all that mattered to them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a chapter and the epilogue left :) thank you all for reading

The sun started to rise, and their journey continued on into the morning.

They’d been walking all night, and Harry’s legs felt like they were going to give out. He’d been in the hospital, and he’d lost what little strength he’d gained from working in the woods. They were walking to the train station a few miles away, and they were making little progress. But Louis promised food once they made it to the train, and that alone was motivating him. Real food, not concentration camp food.

He could tell that the others were tired too, who wouldn’t be after walking through an empty field for miles on end? He even heard Niall whining next to Liam.

But finally, they saw the track and the train station. They walked even further to get to the building. Louis bought them all tickets with the little money he’d kept in his apartment. He smiled over at Louis nervously as they walked past the ticket booth, they’d made it without appearing suspicious so far.

The man in the booth didn’t even glance twice at them. The stars were the only thing that made it physically obvious that they were Jews.

They sat on the train, him and Louis together and Niall and Liam seated behind them. Louis let him sit by the window, so he could see the world flying by as they moved. Flashbacks of getting shipped Auschwitz haunted him, but Louis helped keep them away. Louis bought him a cup of tea and a small bar of chocolate, and he was in heaven for the ten minutes it lasted him. Such simple things he used to take for granted, now delicacies in his eyes.

The train ride seemed to drag on forever, but it was better than all the walking they’d done since he could rest. He leaned over on Louis’ shoulder and closed his eyes, just wanting to sleep the train ride away. He wondered what Austria was like. Maybe it was like his old home, green and beautiful. Or maybe it was full of big, bright cities. He fell asleep, dreaming about this mysterious place.

He was woken by Louis. “Wake up.” He whispered, prodding at his shoulder. Harry slowly opened his eyes, wondering why Louis would wake him from such a nice dream.

“I took this old picture and ring from your bunk back in the bunker. I remember how protective you were of them, and I figured I better take them.” He said with a smile and took something out of his coat pocket. He placed the picture and ring in Harry’s hand.

Harry’s eyes widened and filled with tears. He’d almost forgotten them, and he never would’ve seen them again if it wasn’t for Louis. His precious ring, the only picture he had left of his family. He set them in his lap and turned to wrap his scrawny arms tightly around Louis. “Thank you.” He whispered into his neck, tears running down his cheeks.

He pulled away and wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat. He picked up the picture and smiled at his family’s faces smiling back at him. How he missed his father’s singing, his mother’s cooking, his sister’s advice. All the times he’d looked at the picture and wondered what he would have to go home to after the war ended. And now he did. He had Louis.

He ran his finger over the dusty, wrinkled picture as a million memories played in his head. He was shaken out of his trance after Louis poked his shoulder again. “Is that your family?” He asked softly, holding his hand out for the picture. Harry placed the picture gingerly into Louis’ hand and nodded slowly.

He watched Louis’ face as he examined the picture. “You have your mother’s eyes. Your father’s nose.” Louis said with a wide smile on his face before handing the picture back. “Beautiful family.” He said and took Harry’s hand. He brought it to his lips and softly kissed the back of his hand. Harry blushed and looked down at his lap at the ring.

He picked it up with his free hand and glanced at the inside. ‘As he thinks in his heart, so he is.’ was still clearly engraved into it. He wiped at his eyes again as the tears slipped carelessly from his eyes. “My father gave this ring to me. On my bar mitzvah.” He explained and put it in Louis’ outstretched hand. He let Louis slip it onto his finger. He smiled at Louis and leaned his head back onto his shoulder.

“What do you think you miss the most about home?” Louis asked him, and Harry thought for a moment before answering.

“My mother’s old rose bush. She had planted one in the backyard, and it always got beautiful white roses. Every year on her birthday, we’d sit outside by the bush and pick the roses for her as my father cooked us a special dinner. It was always my favorite time of year, it was always so much fun.” He explained, but then the smile fell from his face. The bush was probably gone, from the Nazi’s stripping their house and they probably burned up their backyard and precious bush.

Louis frowned and wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him closer. “I’ll make you a promise, okay?” He whispered into his ear and nudged his nose against it.

Harry sniffled and sighed. “What is it?” He asked, turning to look at Louis.

“When we get to Austria, we’ll get the biggest house my money can buy and we’ll plant a rose bush in the backyard. Just like your old home.” Louis whispered and kissed Harry’s cheek.

Harry looked over at him again, wide eyed. He threw his arms around Louis and buried his face into Louis’ neck.

“Thank you.” Harry whispered. He laid his head on Louis’ shoulder, closed his eyes, and yawned.

“You’re welcome. Now sleep, we’re a few hours away yet.” Louis said and ran his fingers gently over Harry’s curly hair. He did it until he could hear little snores coming from Harry on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis looked out the window over the heap that was Harry at his side, the world flying by outside.

He could hear Liam and Niall whispering behind them, and it was obvious that they were still shaken up by Niall and Harry almost getting killed.

He still didn’t get how they got lucky so many times. He’d always been there at just the right moment, and it always managed to save Harry’s life. He couldn’t comprehend how it happened, but that didn’t matter. He had Harry now, safe and sound. Out of Auschwitz.

He laid his head on Harry’s, wishing sleep would come. He couldn’t sleep though, he was too excited about what was to come. 

But staring out a window, watching fields and farmhouses passing by for hours can get very boring. So he fell asleep, also dreaming of a wonderful little house he would live in with Harry. With a little dog, a backyard. And of course, a rose bush. Just as he promised.

~~~~~

Louis was woken by Niall poking him on the shoulder. “We’re in Austria.” He whispered, and he could see Liam hovering behind him. He shook Harry awake and pulled him up, even though he was half asleep.

They passed the woman that was ushering people out, and Louis ignored the weird look she was giving them for not getting off with any luggage.

Once they were all out, he gave Harry some time to wake up before they started walking, once again. They had to find somewhere to live, until he could get more money to get them a proper house. Which would be hard, and it probably wouldn’t happen until the war was over.

They walked past pastry shops and clothing stores and cafes and the smells of food were overwhelming him. He pulled Harry by his hand into a bakery and Niall and Liam followed, laughing excitedly. Such a change in all of them, after escaping.

He bought them all freshly baked buns, and they sat at a table in the corner, eating and chatting as a radio blared in the background.

Niall was going on and on about the last time he remembered he’d had a fresh bun when the radio seemed to get louder and someone started cheering.

Everyone’s attention turned to the radio and then he heard it. Someone in the bakery proclaiming what the radio had said.

“The war is over! Hitler is dead! The war is over!” The man shouted, and his eyes widened. It was all over. The war, Hitler’s rule. Everything.

He heard Harry burst into tears and he immediately turned to embrace him. He pat Harry’s back as he cried and the others in the bakery kept cheering. He could tell Harry had been so overwhelmed and stressed out about everything that had been happening, and now he had no need to worry.

~~~~  
Harry walked with his hand in Louis’ as they strolled down the street with Liam and Niall at their side. They were walking back to the train station, because Niall and Liam were going to go to England to stay with Liam’s grandparents.

Harry and Louis bid them goodbye and made sure that they’d have ways to stay in touch.

They walked back into the town and walked past all the shops again, hand in hand, since they really had no place to go yet. The passed a florist’s shop and Louis stopped him. He watched as Louis pressed a coin into the woman outside the shop’s hand and she handed him a beautiful white rose. He smiled as he passed it to Harry.

Harry brought the flower up to his nose and smiled as he inhaled the sweet smell and his mind flooded with memories again.

~~~~~~

They walked until they found a park to sit in. They sat on the bench as the sun started to set on another day, but this was a different kind of day. A day of freedom.

“I’ll find us a place to stay tomorrow.” Louis promised and let Harry lean into him, since they’d probably be spending the night on that bench.

Harry set his rose on the bench beside them and curled into Louis side as he closed his eyes. “Thank you again Louis. For everything. Getting me out, bringing me here.” He mumbled, and Louis nodded.

“Anytime darling. Anything to keep us safe. And now we don’t even have to worry about it anymore. You’re free. “He smiled and kissed Harry momentarily before resting Harry’s head on his shoulder again. “Sleep. It’s been a long day.” He said and trailed his fingers up and down Harry’s arm.

He knew Harry was asleep after only a few minutes, and he just watched as the sun set into the horizon and the moon showed itself. Tomorrow will be even better, he thought.

He felt Harry stirring next to him, and he was no doubt having nightmares. Even the war being over wouldn’t be able to stop them.

He pat Harry’s back until he lay still again, and continued his snoring. He couldn’t help but smile as he turned back to look at the sky.

He laid his head on Harry’s and let out a sigh of relief. It felt nice, not having to worry about someone coming and finding them, knowing that Harry escaped. They were perfectly safe, unless he got hunted down for being a Nazi. But they had much more dangerous people to hunt than him.

They could be together now. No more sneaking into Louis’ apartment and worrying about Zayn finding them and choking Harry to death. No more Rudolf, or moldy bread, or rotten potato soup. Hard, wooden bunks. It was all over.

He picked up the rose and tucked it behind Harry’s ear. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, feeling warm and content, because for once, things were actually okay.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this story but there will be an epilogue :) thank you all for reading and be sure to check out my other stories :)

Weeks passed, and Harry and Louis were the happiest they’d ever been.

Louis’ mum back in England sent them money. His father was in hiding, since he was being searched for for being a Nazi. He rent them a small apartment in Austria, and they were doing just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a particular Sunday evening, they were sitting on their living room couch, watching their small television. Harry couldn’t remember a time he’d been happier than at that moment, because someone actually cared for him and he didn’t have to worry about working or getting shot anymore. It was all over, and he was in Louis’ arms.

He wondered about the people left behind at the camp every now and then. What happened to the ones that didn’t have anywhere to go? The ones that had no money to go anywhere? He especially was wondering about people that went back to their old houses. Trying to go back to a normal way of life. Without Louis, he’d be that way. But Louis helped him through the nightmares, the flashbacks. It was one of the small things Louis tried to do to make it up to him.

He wondered the most about Alex though. His little friend from his bunker. The one with no family to go to. He didn’t have anything or anyone, and especially now he felt guilty about leaving him behind.

But he didn’t let it bother him too much, there were plenty of nice people in the world that would help Alex. He learned that from Louis, that not everyone was bad. Everyone had a nice side, a side that would come out when they saw how bad people really needed to be helped.

He cuddled into Louis side more, smiling over at him as Louis stared at the TV. His train of thought was broken by the telephone ringing. He reached over for it and picked it up. “Hello?” He asked cheerily. It was someone asking him if he’d been in Auschwitz concentration camp. He replied with a quiet yes, but the person seemed happy with his answer.

The woman told him that a little boy had come to her door, asking if he could stay with her until he found his friend. The woman was a Jewish person who was lucky enough not to have been put into a camp, so she let him. She said that the boy asked if she knew a Harry Styles, and it turns out she was friends with Harry’s mum. So she’d called his mum, and that’s how she’d gotten his number.

Next she put Alex on the phone. “Hey Harry.” He heard a small voice on the other end say. He put his hand over his mouth and felt like he’d cry. He’d accepted that he’d never be able to see Alex or hear him again, and there he was talking to him on the phone.

“What’s wrong Harry?” Louis asked, turning to him with a worried look.

“Hey Alex.” Harry replied into the phone, his voice cracking a little.

He looked over at Louis, and a look of realization crossed his face. Alex told him how he’d walked from the camp after they were let free until the first town. They talked for awhile, Louis sitting closer to him the whole time to listen to what Alex was saying.

“Would it be okay if I came to Austria?” Alex asked, shyness apparent in his voice. He couldn’t say yes fast enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis was shocked when Harry picked up the phone and it was Alex. He was sure that Alex was dead by now, or wandering the streets somewhere. But he was there, talking to Harry. And soon, he would be on a train to Austria.

After Harry hung up, Louis kissed his cheek with a wide smile. “We should go out tonight. Get some sweets for Alex when he comes.” He said and stood up, holding his hand out for Harry.

Harry took it with a wide grin and they walked out of the apartment and down into the lobby. He loved living in the apartment, because they were within walking distance of all the good shops and cafes. He swung their entwined hands between them as they walked past all of the shop windows.

They stopped at a candy store and walked in, and he saw Harry’s eyes widen at it all. They walked around the displays, adding candy to their bag for both Harry and Alex. They brought it to the front and he paid for it. They continued walking.

He liked to buy Harry a rose whenever they went out, just so Harry knew he would still keep his promise. He paid the same woman for the same red rose. He tucked it behind Harry’s ear and kissed him before they kept walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t wait until Alex is here.” Harry commented once they were in the bakery, eating their fresh rolls.

Louis nodded in agreement and took another bite of his roll. “It’ll be great having him. At least until he find family to stay with or something.” He said with a shrug.

Harry stopped eating and looked up at Louis. “He doesn’t have anyone Louis. All of his family is gone, all of them were killed.” He said, keeping his voice low. He stared at Louis for a moment before looking back to his bread. “I think he’ll need to stay with us a little longer than you think he does.” He mumbled

Louis sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know if we can Harry. Paying for a whole other person to eat and stay at our flat?” He added, staring at the top of Harry’s head. He didn’t want to be mean, they’d never really disagreed on anything, but this was called for. It wasn’t long before he didn’t have enough money for just them to live in their tiny flat.

Harry looked up at Louis, his eyes a little wider. “Oh.” He said quietly, eating the rest of his roll. Louis finished his roll and they walked out of the bakery in silence.

He didn’t know what to do, because as much as he wanted to tell Harry Alex could stay, he really couldn’t. He tried to take Harry’s hand when they were walking home, but Harry just pulled his hand away. His heart dropped, but he knew he deserved it.

They reached their apartment and went to bed, considering it was already dark. He went into the bathroom after Harry to brush his teeth, coming out to see Harry already in bed. He sighed and walked over, crawling in next to Harry. He snaked his arms around Harry’s waist, pulling him closer.

“Hey, m’sorry.” He muttered and kissed Harry’s hair. He loved Harry’s hair even more now, now that it wasn’t dirty and matted to his head. Now he had special soaps and all to use. “He can stay as long as he wants, I can just get more money from my parents if we need it.” He said and nuzzled his nose into Harry’s soft hair.

Harry smiled up at him and Louis kissed his nose. “I know how much he means to you, I’m sorry I got angry in the bakery.” Louis said and pushed Harry’s curls from his face.

Harry nodded and leaned up to kiss Louis. “It’s okay.” He said and closed his eyes again.

They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, Louis just running his fingers along Harry’s spine. He felt more lucky than he had in a long time. He had someone he loved, someone he could be with forever. Or at least he hoped. Someone who understood him, and saw that he really was a nice person at heart.

He opened his eyes when Harry started stirring. Harry opened his eyes too, and they smiled at each other. “Y’know what Lou?” He mumbled sleepily, running his finger across Louis’ cheek.

“What is it Harry?” Louis asked, smiling like a fool. Harry was funny when he was sleepy.

“I love you.” He whispered, running his fingers over Louis’ lips as he giggled a little.

Louis smiled and sighed contently. “I love you too darling.” He said and pulled the flower from behind Harry’s ear to put it on the bedside table. He kissed Harry’s forehead and pulled him a little closer. “Now sleep. Alex will probably be here tomorrow, you won’t have time for sleeping.” He laughed and closed his own eyes.

He thought Harry had fallen asleep, but once again opened his eyes when Harry mumbled something.

“What was that, love?” He asked.

Harry sighed and opened his eyes. “Don’t let me go. Please.” He whispered and pushed his face against Louis chest. “I can’t be alone again.”

Louis nodded and hugged Harry tightly. “I’ll never let you go Harry.” He said quietly. He couldn’t even imagine doing that.

He closed his eyes again and tried to fall asleep again, sure this time that Harry was asleep. But then he was awoken again.

“Promise?” He heard Harry ask very quietly, his voice cracking.

 

Louis opened his eyes and sighed. “I promise.” He whispered back, leaning down to kiss Harry’s soft lips one last time before they both fell asleep, in each other’s arms.


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last of it, thank you all for reading and be sure to check out my other stories ily :)

The next few months passed in a blur.

Alex had come, tears had been shed and laughs shared. It felt good to be reunited, somewhere besides the dreary camp.

But their time together was short lived; Alex’s aunt had found out he was still alive and called them up. Of course Louis and Harry where happy for him, but it was sad seeing him go. And they finally had time alone together again, in the comfort of their small flat in Austria.

But Louis’ promise had been haunting him for awhile. He wanted to get them a real house, a place that could be their home for awhile. He knew that he owed it to Harry.

So he’d gotten himself a job, much to Harry’s disappointment. He knew Harry hated being alone, but he had to do it for him.

And after a few months of hard work, and borrowing some money from his mum, he could finally give Harry what he deserved.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Harry? Darling I’m home!” Louis called as he walked into their apartment, looking around for Harry. He furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged off his coat when Harry was nowhere in sight. He slipped his shoes off and walked into their bedroom, seeing Harry fast asleep on their bed.

He smiled and his heart swelled with affection as he walked over to kiss his forehead. “Wake up.” He said quietly and kneeled down next to the bed, turning his face to press his lips to Harry’s as he woke up. He pulled away and stared at Harry with the biggest grin on his face, and Harry just looked at him like he was crazy.

“Get up, we have to pack. We’re going somewhere.” He said and rummaged under the bed for their suitcase. He jumped up and ran to the closet, grabbing handfuls of clothes to shove them into the bag. Harry sat up and stared at him sleepily. “Where?”

“It’s a surprise, help me!” Louis giggled and shoved the rest of their clothes in before zipping it shut, with much trouble. “Let’s just say we’ll never have to come back to this dreary old apartment again!” He said triumphantly as he walked out of the room with the suitcase. Harry slowly trudged out of their room, still looking utterly confused.

Louis slipped his shoes and jacket back on before slowly helping Harry into his. He wished Harry would just cooperate and realize he was trying to do something exciting for him.

Harry followed him down the stairs of their building at what Louis was sure was the slowest he could’ve gone. He tugged at Harry’s hand and whined. “Come on Harry, you’ll love it, I promise!” He said and held Harry’s hand tightly as they walked down the sidewalk to the bus stop, the suitcase bumping along beside them.

They got on the bus, Harry dozed off about halfway there. Their stop finally came and he helped a once again sleepy Harry off the bus, making sure to take their bag. “Come on Harry, you have to be kind of anxious. It’s a surprise, aren’t you excited?” He asked, squeezing Harry closer to him by the hand he had on his waist.

Harry mumbled something again and Louis rolled his eyes as they walked down the sidewalk to their new house. When they were right around the corner from the house he’d bought, he handed the suitcase to Harry and covered Harry’s eyes with his hands.

“What the hell are you doing Louis?” Harry asked nervously, wide awake now.

“Calm yourself Harry, it’s a surprise!” Louis said again, trying his best not to laugh. They walked up into the driveway and up the walk of the house to stand in front of it. “Are you ready?” Louis asked, still keeping his hands over Harry’s eyes.

Harry laughed a little, the first sign of excitement he’d shown all day. “Of course I’m ready.” He said, sounding a bit bored.

Louis giggled and kissed the back of Harry’s neck. He slowly pulled his hands away from Harry’s face. “Welcome home, love.” He said and looked at the house in front of them. It was really nothing special, but it was theirs. The paint on the porch was peeling, the floorboards squeaked inside of the house. But he loved it.

He looked at Harry, who had his hand over his mouth. “Are you serious?” He whispered, his eyes inspecting every aspect of the exterior of the house.

Louis nodded, the wide smile still on his face. “It’s ours, all ours. All the working I did went to this. For us.” He said and gently pulled Harry’s hand away from his mouth. He kissed it and entwined his fingers with Harry’s as they walked towards the house, Harry’s other hand still clutching the suitcase.

He led Harry up the stairs of the porch and opened the front door. He pulled Harry inside and closed the door, laughing when it squeaked loudly. “It’s not the best, but it’s something.” He said quietly, squeezing Harry’s hand as he looked around.

Harry shook his head and turned to throw himself at Louis, pulling him in for a suffocating hug. “It’s so perfect, it’s great. Thank you so much, you’re so amazing.” He said quietly into Louis’ shoulder, and he felt the tears falling onto his shirt.

Louis smiled softly and slowly pulled away from Harry. He took Harry’s face in his hands and wiped his tears away with his thumbs. “It’s more of a way for me to thank you. You’ve changed who I am in so many ways Harry, and I couldn’t buy you enough things to show you how thankful I am.” He said and leaned up to kiss Harry’s forehead.

Harry smiled back at him and he took Harry’s hand again. “I have one more surprise though.” He said and pulled Harry through the house, past the kitchen and the living room to the door that led out to the backyard. He led Harry out the door and over to what would be a garden, but it didn’t have any plants. Except for one bush.

When Harry gasped, he knew he saw it. He turned to where Harry was looking, at the large rosebush, full of large red flowers. He’d finally fulfilled his promise, to get Harry a house with a rosebush. Just like his old home.

“Louis..” Harry whispered, releasing his hand to walk over to the flowers. He watched as Harry ran his fingers over the soft petals of the rose.

He smiled and walked over next to Harry. “You like it?” He asked, plucking one of the flowers. He made sure there weren’t any thorns before tucking it behind Harry’s ear, adjusting his hair around it. “I keep my promises.” He said and snaked his arms around Harry’s waist, pulling him closer.

Harry wiped his tears and leaned in to Louis’ arms, laying his head on his shoulder. He didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky, as to have someone to love and care for, who loved him back. He ran his hand through Harry’s hair, his face still pressed into his neck. “I love you so much, you know that right?” He whispered, tearing up himself.

Harry nodded and pulled away to gaze into Louis’ eyes. “I love you too.” He said with a smile.

“I told you I’d get you a rosebush. Just like the one you had at home.” He grinned and folded his hands behind Harry’s back. He sat down in the grass, pulling Harry down to sit in his lap. Harry curled into him and laid his head on his shoulder. Louis giggled, Harry reminded him of a kitten.

Harry grinned and nodded. “It’s perfect Louis, it’s so amazing. It’s like I’m home again.” He murmured and let his eyes close. Louis couldn’t help but stare, Harry sitting in the sun with the rose in his hair, looking so peaceful and at ease. He knew then he’d never seen anything so perfect, and was reminded why he loved Harry so much.

He ran his hand across Harry’s back, humming something in his ear until he thought Harry was asleep. But then Harry started stirring.

“You’re keeping your other promise, right?” Harry whispered, and Louis sighed.

“Of course darling. I’m not going anywhere, okay?” He whispered back and kissed Harry’s temple.

“Don’t let me go?” Harry asked, opening his eyes.

Louis nodded and pushed Harry’s hair off of his forehead. “Never.” He said and kissed Harry’s forehead again. Harry laid his head on his shoulder again, and this time Louis was sure he was asleep. He watched him for awhile, straightened the rose, and fiddled with his hair.

“Promise?” Harry croaked, opening his eyes again. He held up his hand, all of his fingers curled into a fist except for his little finger.

Louis smiled softly and linked his little finger with Harry’s. “I promise.” He said back quietly. He leaned back against the house, Harry leaning on his chest. He closed his eyes and tipped his head towards the sun, letting the sun warm them.

At that moment, he realized that all he needed was Harry in his life, that he would be content if he never had anything, except for him. Someone who loved him despite his past, and what he had done. Someone who saw the good in him. He didn’t care if people gave them odd looks when they walked hand in hand through town. He loved Harry, and that was all that mattered.

He’d already learned so much from Harry, but one lesson hit him the most.

Harry had taught him that people don’t always appear how they really are, that things hiding beneath the surface mean so much more than what meets the eye. That every person has their good qualities, it just takes the right person to see them.

And of course, that love is not limited by who a person is. Love is love.

 

-le fin-


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